TREATMENT OF CHRONIC CHAGAS-DISEASE WITH ITRACONAZOLE AND ALLOPURINOL

Four hundred four patients with chronic Chagas' disease were treated w ith itraconazole (6 mg/kg of body weight/day for 120 days), allopurino l (8.5 mg/kg of body weight/day for 60 days), or with a placebo of pur e starch. Patients were monitored over a period of four years by clini cal examination, serology, xenodiagnosis, hemoculture, and electrocard iogram. Drug tolerance was good, with only four treatments discontinue d due to side effects that subsided after suspension of treatment. Par asitologic cure was evident in 44% of the those treated with allopurin ol and 53% of those treated with itraconazole, and the electrocardiogr aphic evaluation showed normalization in 36.5% and 48.2%, respectively , of patients with chronic or recent cardiopathy.