In the long term which are the organs affected by chronic Chagas’ disease?
In the chronic phase of Chagas’ disease, that manifests years after the infection, the trypanosoma infests the muscles of the heart causing insufficient blood pumping, pulmonary edema and increase in the size of the organ (cardiomegaly). This is the cardiac manifestation of Chagas’ disease. The main symptoms that appear are dyspnea, cough and cardiac arrhythmias.
In the digestive form of manifestation of the disease the parasite destroys cells of the autonomic nervous system responsible for the peristaltism of the digestive tube. Since the motility of the esophagus and intestines is reduced the transit of materials inside these organs is impaired and they increase in size (width), conditions respectively known as megaesophagus and megacolon. The main symptoms are dysphagia (impaired swallowing), constipation, flatulence and formation of fecaloma (accumulation of feces inside the bowels).