Concurrent Chagas' disease and borderline disseminated cutaneous leishmaniasis: The role of amiodarone as an antitrypanosomatidae drug

The occurrence of mixed infections of Trypanosoma cruzi and Leishmania spp. is becoming a common feature in Central and South America due to overlapping endemic areas. Unfortunately, the possibilities for treating fl agellated kinetoplastid infections are still very limited and most of the available drugs exhibit severe side effects. Although the development of new drugs for Leishmania has markedly improved in the last years, the tendency is still to employ antimonial compounds. On the other hand, treatment for Chagas' disease is only avail- able for the acute phase with no effective therapeutical options for chronic stage disease. The following case report substantiates the recently discovered effect of amiodarone as a noncon- ventional antiparasitic drug, particularly against Leishmania, breaching a new perspective in the therapeutic management of these important infectious parasitic diseases.