Surgically treated megaesophagus: epidemiological profile of patients operated in the Clinical Hospital of the State University of Campinas between 1989 and 2005

Megaesophagus is one of the manifestations of Chagas disease and surgical treatment is the approach that presents die best results. In this retrospective study, the epidemiological profile of patients operated in the Clinical Hospital of University of Campinas between 1989 and 2005 was evaluated with regard to: place of birth, place of residence, probable place of infection, age, degree of megaesophagus, etiology, duration and evolution of dysphagia, other diseases in association and die type of surgery chosen. Vie method used was to analyze the 390 medical files of these patients, at the hospital's medical archive service. The results made it possible to establish the endemic regions, place of birth and place of residence of the patients with Chagas disease attended at our clinic, and to characterize the group. After detailed analysis, it was found that the mean age was 47 years and the mean duration of dysphagia was 9.47 years. It was observed that a) in 84.4% of the patients, dysphagia took hold progressively, b) 306 (78.5%) patients presented Chagas disease etiology, c) grade 2 was prevalent in 48%; d) 89.8% of the patients underwent cardiomyotomy, and e) there were frequent associations with gastritis, esophagitis, megacolon, arterial hypertension and cardiopathy.