A native of El Salvador with tachycardia and syncope
Article Abstract:
A 27-year-old man from El Salvador died after developing chronic Chagas' disease. Chronic Chagas' disease is a disorder caused by the parasitic protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi that mainly affects the heart. This disorder is widespread in Central America including a large part of El Salvador. The patient was admitted to the hospital after he fainted at a soccer game. The day of admission to the hospital, he had become dizzy and had heart palpitations while playing soccer. He was a native of El Salvador and had grown up in a rural area. He had immigrated to the US six years before being admitted to the hospital. A electrocardiogram revealed an abnormal heart beat, and a chest X-ray showed enlargement of the left ventricle of the heart. A biopsy of heart tissue and analysis of blood samples indicated a probably diagnosis of Chagas disease. The patient died 10 months after discharge from the hospital despite treatment for an irregular heart beat.
Publication Name: The New England Journal of Medicine
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0028-4793
Year: 1993
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A 29-year-old man with AIDS and multiple splenic abscesses
Article Abstract:
Immunocompromised people, such as AIDS patients, are more susceptible to extrapulmonary and mycobacterial infections. A 29-year old AIDS patient who had suffered from abdominal pain and diarrhea for four months was admitted to the hospital. His lungs appeared normal, but a CT scan revealed multiple lesions on the spleen and some on the liver, many of which had calcified. The patient's decreasing CD4 lymphocyte count suggested he was entering a progressive-late stage of HIV infection, in which patients become more susceptible to mycobacterial infections and splenic abscesses. After removal of the spleen and biopsies of the liver, the patient was found to suffer from a Pneumocystis carinii infection and Mycobacterium avium complex infection.
Publication Name: The New England Journal of Medicine
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0028-4793
Year: 1995
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