The Characterization of Cardiac Explants Reveals Unique Fibrosis Patterns and a Predominance of CD8+ T Cell Subpopulations in Patients with Chronic Chagas Cardiomyopathy.

Aim: The present study aimed to characterize the histopathological findings and the phenotype of inflammatory cells in the myocardial tissue of patients with end-stage heart failure (ESHF) secondary to CCC in comparison with ESHF secondary to non-Chagas cardiomyopathies (NCC).

Methods: A total of 32 explanted hearts were collected from transplanted patients between 2014 and 2017. Of these, 21 were classified as CCC and 11 as other NCC.