In the cardiac forms of Chagas' Disease that develop with refractory cardiac failure under clinical treatment, the transplant is the only alternative along with the cardiomyoplasty. The authors present the six patient late evolution with terminal chagasic myocardiopathy submitted under on orthopic heart transplantation. The average period of observation was of 25.2 months. The diagnosis of Chagas' Disease reativation relies on the clinical observation, laboratory investigation of parasito, endomyocardial biopsy and subcutaneous nodules. The analyses of the results show that: 1) the laboratory exams were useless in the diagnosis of the disease reativation, but the biopsy presented hight positivity; 2) the pulse therapy with steroid predisposes the reativation; 3) the lymphoproliferative disease presents hight incidence in the Chagas' Disease which is the main late complication; possibly the benzonidazol shows its potentially oncogenic effect. Having in mind the endemic character of the disease, the lack of alternative therapy becomes compulsory the analysis of immunosuppressive therapy, reativation treatment and increases the clinical experience to more defined position.
heart transplantation