Characterization of digestive disorders of patients with chronic Chagas disease in Cochabamba, Bolivia.

Background: Chagas disease (CD) is endemic in Latin America and particularly common in Bolivia, but there is little information on the characteristics of chronic digestive involvement.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence and characterize digestive manifestations in chronic CD patients in Cochabamba, Bolivia.

Methods: Eighty-five -seropositive individuals with or without digestive symptoms (G1 group), and fifteen -seronegative patients with similar digestive symptoms to those seen in CD (G2 group) were included in the study. All patients underwent a detailed history including past medical history, epidemiological information, hygiene and dietary habits, a complete physical examination, two serological tests for , video endoscopy, barium swallow, and barium enema.

Findings: We observed digestive manifestations in seropositive and seronegative patients. Colonic manifestations were detected in both groups, highlighting the relevance of other confounder factors in the region. Constipation was present in 52.9% of G1 patients, 62.4% presented two or more upper digestive tract symptoms, and 5.9% of them presented esophageal manifestations. infection was detected in 58.8% of G1 patients, and all patients presented gastritis on endoscopy.

Conclusions: Prevalence of digestive involvement in CD patients is higher than expected. However, digestive symptoms are not always caused by infection and require differential diagnoses.