Chronic Digestive Chagas Disease

Abstract

The digestive form of Chagas is characterized by alterations in motor, secretory, and absorptive functions of the gastrointestinal tract seen in chronic phase of the disease. It is related to denervation of the enteric nervous system that may occur along the entire digestive tract. As a result of this denervation, digestive motility disturbances occur, leading to loss of coordination of peristalsis and relaxation of the sphincters, resulting in progressive dilation-megaformations, notably in the esophagus and colon, known as chagasic megaesophagus and megacolon. The main esophageal symptom is slowly progressive dysphagia, even for years. In chagasic colopathy, the main symptom is constipation. The most common method used to evaluate chagasic esophagopathy and colopathy has been radiological examination. Esophageal manometry has been widely performed in evaluating chagasic esophagopathy and less in colopathy. More recently, high-resolution manometry has been applied in the assessment of esophageal involvement in Chagas disease.