Clinical presentation and follow up of children with congenital toxoplasmosis in Brazil

Abstract

We evaluated the clinical presentation and determined the ocular and neurologic sequelae in children with congenital toxoplasmosis in Brazil, taking into consideration the shortage of national publications on this disease. Follow-up evaluations were made of 43 children with congenital toxoplasmosis referred to Santa Casa de São Paulo, during a period of at least five years. Selection of the cases was based in clinical and laboratory criteria. A clear predominance of children with subclinical presentation of the disease at birth (88%) was found. Of the 43 children, 22 (51%) developed neurological manifestations. Using skull radiography, we detected neuroradiologic alterations in seven children (16%) and with tomography in 33 children (77%). Neurological sequelae were identified in 15 children (54%) in the group with cerebral calcifications and in 7 (47%) in the group without cerebral calcifications. We observed chorioretinitis in 95% of the cases. Reactivation of cicatricial lesions and the emergence of new ocular lesions were observed in five cases. The most frequent neurological manifestation was a delay in neuropsychomotor development. Most remarkable was the finding that cerebral calcifications were not associated with a higher incidence of neurological sequelae among the children. Chorioretinitis was the main ocular sequel of the infection, found in nearly all children; it can manifest years from birth, even in children submitted to specific therapy druing the first year of life, highlighting the importance of a follow-up of these children.