28/F fom Bolivia, no PMH, referred to you for a +Trypanosoma cruzi serology. No SSx, has normal EKG (w/ 30 sec strip), CXR & echo. Which of the following complications of Chagas’ disease has the most evidence to support treating her with benznidazole to reduce risk?
1/14
Only 1/3 got the correct answer: vertical transmission.

Although most patients with indeterminate Chagas are treated w/ benznidazole, there is limited data on the effect of Rx to progression to cardiomyopathy/GI involvement (partly because it requires decades of ffup).
2/14
There is also limited data (& no broad consensus) in treating indeterminate Chagas in patients who are at risk for reactivation (e.g. HIV, those undergoing transplant). bit.ly/2z3p5Fs bit.ly/2z00jpM
3/14
But there is stronger evidence that treatment of indeterminate Chagas among women of reproductive age PRIOR to pregnancy reduces the risk of vertical transmission by as much as 95%. bit.ly/3aYl3eE
4/14
There are so many teaching points on Chagas disease but for this MCQ, I will highlight a few points on transmission, clinical manifestations, and treatment.
5/14
T. cruzi is transmitted 👇 by the triatome bug not directly from a bite but from its feces. The insect defecates as it bites; T. cruzi in the feces enters the blood through the bite wound or an intact mucosa like the conjunctiva (producing the classic Romana’s sign 👇). ImageImage
6/14
Refer again to the diagram☝️cyle 3️⃣4️⃣ explains the clinical manifestations of Chagas. Although it can infect a wide variety of cells, trypomastigotes predominantly infect the heart and the gut, causing pathology.
7/14
Cycle 4️⃣ also tells you why one of the ways to diagnose acute Chagas disease is looking at the blood smear which we’ve talked about in greater details before.

Review here 👇#spacedlearning #retrievalpractice
8/14
The table👇 attempts to summarize the spectrum of Chagas in adults.

W/o Tx, acute 👉 chronic Chagas. 1st 30 y, most will be indeterminate; 20-40% will progress to determinate.

Note: brain abscess and rash occur during reactivation but not so much in other forms. Image
9/14
Image 1👇depicts the manifestations of chronic Chagas bit.ly/3fcMSU6

Image 2 👇depicts classification of chronic chagasic cardiomyopathy and GI disease bit.ly/3dasyAR ImageImage
10/14
Which groups of patients benefit most from treatment? 👇bit.ly/3fcMSU6

There is broad consensus that the ff groups benefit the most & should be get tx (a/w high cure rates):

▪️Acute infxn
▪️Infants/congenital infxn
▪️Children <18 yrs
▪️Reactivation disease Image
11/14
Patients w/ less advanced GI dx & cardiomyopathy may also benefit from Tx but the evidence is less robust.

As @CrystalZhengMD pointed, no discussion of Chagas is complete w/o bringing up the BENEFIT trial bit.ly/2xsifsG (benefit w/ prasitemia, none clinically).
12/14
Chagas is a zoonosis and humans are incidental hosts. Normally involved in a cycle between vector and its vast animal hosts.

Humans only become involved when land is opened up for farming. The natural habitat of the vector is disrupted and it becomes domiciliary.
13/14
This life cycle between the vector, animals, & humans as incidental hosts has been going on since the dawn of history👇. bit.ly/2Wk7XmL

Illustrates One Health, a concept that once again is brought to the fore in light of COVID-19. #COVID19 bit.ly/2Yw2njZ Image
14/14
28 autochthonous Chagas (1955-2015) despite the many sp of triatomes in the US that carry T. cruzi. Apart from better housing in the US, triatomes here are more sylvatic than domiciliary, & don’t defecate as they bite unlike South American bugs. bit.ly/2ybZpqj

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More from @WuidQ

Jan 6, 2021
38/M w/ progressive loss of scalp, axilla, and chest hairs. Recently dx w/ HIV 6 mos ago when he developed dissem cryptococcosis. He has now been taking TDF/FTC, raltegravir, TMP/SMX, azithromycin, & fluconazole x 6 mos. Drug-induced alopecia is suspected. Most likely culprit?
1/8 Nice job! 52% got the right answer, fluconazole.

In animals/humans, fluconazole has been shown to induce telogen effluvium bit.ly/2MMnF9j, one of the most common causes of nonscarring hair loss (see Table 👇 bit.ly/38rTXyN).

@LParraRod @NNolanMD Image
2/8
Normal hair cycle: anagen (growth) 👉catagen (transformation) 👉telogen (resting) 👉 shedding. Cycle is asynchronous (no mass hair shedding). At any given time, 90% of hair are in anagen, 1% in catagen, 10% in telogen.

@ID_fellows @PBMazi @LeMiguelChavez @gayathri25788
Read 9 tweets
Sep 24, 2020
32/M, h/o HSV encep 1 mo ago (s/p 21 d ACV), on ceftri/metronidazole for sacral OM, p/t ER +delusion, fever, seizure. CSF: WBC 25 (L>N), ⬆️TP, n/l gluc,(-)HSV. Septic w/u all(-). MRI:
b/l temporal lobe enhancement ⬆️ from prior. Whch of the ff is the best Tx for this condition?
1/11
The group is split b/n steroids & d/c metronidazole. The answer here is Tx w/ steroids. Indeed, this is a case of autoimmune post-HSV encephalitis (anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis post-HSV). Good job @LemuelNonMD
@LeMiguelChavez @adilrashid83 @Orchid10Tree @KhalafSuha
2/11
Metronidazole-induced encephalopathy is predominated by cerebellar Sx w/ a distinct involvement of the dentato-rubro-olivary pathway on imaging. We’ve talked about it here before. Refer👇for further discussion
Read 12 tweets
Sep 19, 2020
67/M w/ poor control DM, BPH, +10 d dysuria. T38.1, BP 120/80, +tender R CVA. WBC 14. U/A: 21 WBC, UCx: (-)bacteria, +Candida glabrata (fluc-R) x 2 samples. BCx(-), CT: +prostate hypertrophy. Has had no response to ceftriaxone. Has no Foley cath. Which of the ff is indicated?
1/15
The vote is split b/n micafungin and ampho deoxycholate! Thank you for all your responses!

Although micafungin may be a reasonable option, the correct answer here is ampho deoxycholate.

In this tweetorial, we will talk about Candida UTI and its treatment.
@ID_fellows
2/15
Candiduria can be challenging as it can potentially indicate: colonization, UTI, or candidemia/disseminated infxn.

Candiduria from a clean-voided urine sample is uncommon (<1%); more commonly seen in hospitalized patients w/ an indwelling bladder cath.
Read 16 tweets
Sep 16, 2020
ID Miscellany|physical Exam|Signs|Humanities #idmesh
1/20
𝙁𝙀𝙑𝙀𝙍 𝙋𝘼𝙏𝙏𝙀𝙍𝙉𝙎: 𝘼 𝙇𝙊𝙎𝙏 𝘼𝙍𝙏?

Great! Three quarters find inquiring about fever patterns still useful. We will review some of the most important fever patterns.

@ID_fellows

2/20
For centuries, physicians have relied upon meticulous observations to dx infections. For many years, observation of the fever pattern provided physicians w/ important diagnostic clues. However, the advent of abx & advanced dx & imaging has changed this landscape. #idmesh
3/20
Swift initiation of abx & antipyretics make it impossible to verify historical descriptions of certain fever patterns. Hence, inquiry into fever patterns loses its clinical significance bit.ly/33iXCLs.
Read 21 tweets
Sep 11, 2020
29M w severe persistent asthma p/w recurrent exacerbations despite optimal LABA/intranasal steroids. Abs eos 1250, total Ig E 1500, CT +mucus plugging, central bronchiectasis upper-middle lobes. Originally from Mexico, now in Texas. Which of the ff tests is indicated?
1/10
Great job! The majority got the right answer, allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA).

Recurrent asthma exacerbations despite optimal asthma therapy & eosinophilia a/w mucus plugging and multilobar central bronchiectasis should raise suspicion for ABPA.
2/10
Aspergillosis, classified as saprophytic (aspergilloma), allergic (ABPA, hypersensitivity pneumonitis, allergic sinusitis), or invasive (pulmonary, other organs).

ABPA: hypersensitivity to A. fumigatus; can also occur from other fungi (referred as ABPM, M for mycosis).
Read 11 tweets
Jul 31, 2020
48M +cirrhosis, underwent routine large volume paracentesis. +Abd fullness, (-)fever, abd pain/tenderness, confusion. Ascitic fluid: light yellow, 100 PMNs, SAAG 1.5, Cx +pan-susc E. coli. WBC 8, Crea 0.8, bili 1.8. Which of the ff is best management for this patient?
1/5
Only 21% got this right: no abx, repeat para in 48H.

The dx of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) rests on finding >/= 250 PMNs/mm3 in the ascitic fluid. Most patients with SBP are symptomatic (only 13% with no symptoms bit.ly/3gp5nEU)
2/5
The patient in our case is asymptomatic (no fever, abdominal pain, mental status change 👉most common SBP symptoms) and the ascitic fluid is <250. This is a variant of SBP known as:

▪️Monomicrobial nonneutrocytic bacterascites (MNB)
Read 6 tweets

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