Abstract
This study aimed to evaluate and make a comparison between hemoculture, xenodiagnosis and buffy coat examinations for diagnosis and monitoring of possible re-activation in chronic patients treated by heart transplantation. Seventy samples were analyzed and 15.7% (11/70) were positive:8.5% (6/70) in the hemocultures and 12.8% (9/70) in the xenodiagnosis. Four samples were positive in both techniques (5.7%). There were no positive results for the buffy coat examination. These findings support information about the superior sensitivity of xenodiagnosis in relation to hemoculture. Positive xenodiagnosis (day 15) and a myocarditis with nests of amastigotes, 15 days before the laboratory detection, observed in patient sample 20, signals the importance of early reading of indirect parasitological examinations as possible predictors of disease reactivation.
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