[Prevalence of cholelithiasis in necropsies of patients with chronic Chagas' disease in the mining triangle--correlation with megaesophagus, megacolon and cardiac insufficiency]

Abstract

Retrospective analysis of the diagnosis of 2.517 autopsies performed in the western region of the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil, showed that cholelithiasis has significant association with megaesophagus and megacolon but not with Chagas' disease (when considered in all of its anatomo-clinic presentations) or with heart failure due to chronic chagasic cardiopathy. Possible explanations to these findings are discussed and the scanty pertinent literature is commented.