Abstract We present a case of a female adolescent with severe acute Chagas myocarditis, acquired by oral transmission in an endemic area in the Brazilian western Amazon, who had electrocardiographic changes normalized after empirical treatment with the antiparasitic drug benznidazole combined with conventional treatment for severe heart failure.

A cardiopatia induzida por estresse (precipitada por estresse emocional), também chamada de balonamento apical transitório do ventrículo esquerdo, síndrome do coração partido e, no Japão, síndrome de takotsubo, é caracterizada pela presença de movimento discinético transitório da parede anterior do ventrículo esquerdo, com acentuação da cinética da base ventricular. O curso clínico da cardiomiopatia de takotsubo pode se assemelhar ao do infarto agudo do miocárdio, com dor torácica típica e alterações eletrocardiográficas, sendo a cineangiocoronariografia realizada para distinguir as duas condições na fase aguda.

Stress-induced cardiomyopathy, also know as reversible left ventricular apical ballooning, " Broken-Heart" syndrome, and in Japan, Takotsubo, is characterized by the presence of a transient left ventricular dyskinetic movement of the anterior wall of with hypercontraction of the ventricular basilar segments precipitated by emotional stress. The clinical course of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy is similar to that of an acute myocardial infarct with typical chest pain and electrocardiographic changes, and during the acute phase, coronary angiography is used to distinguish between the two conditions.