Inflammatory response against Trypanosoma cruzi parasitised cells from adrenal vein and myocardium in chronic Chagas' disease.

We have previously published a paper stressing the higher frequency of T. cruzi nests in the central vein of adrenal gland (CVAG) (50%) when compared to the left ventricular myocardium (LVM) (17%) in patients with chronic Chagas’ disease4. Those results could be related to a milder inflammatory response against the parasite or its products in the CVAG. In th is w o rk , w e co m p are the inflammatory response (focal leucocyte exudate-FLE) to amastigote nests occurrence in both CVAG and LVM. We determined the topographic relationship b etw een FLE and 45 nests of T. ci~uzi randomly selected in the CVAG of 18 patients and 23 nests detected in the LVM of 6 patients. The frequency of “adhering” leucocytes to parasitised cells surface was also estimated by analysis of a single histological section. This phenomenon was classified as mild in the presence of only one or two “adhering" leucocytes, moderate in the presence of three to five and marked in the