Electrocardiographic alterations during treatment of mucocutaneous leishmaniasis with meglumine antimoniate and allopurinol.

The electrocardiographic (ECG) changes in Bolivian patients with mucocutaneous leishmaniasis, treated with meglumine antimoniate and allopurinol, were evaluated. Electric changes due to the antimonial compound appeared in 45% of the patients, and consisted of repolarization alteration, principally affecting the T wave and the S-T segment. The changes disappeared within 2 months following the end of the antimonial treatment. In patients with associated Chagas disease and leishmaniasis, antimonial therapy did not aggravate the ECG changes characteristic of Chagasic cardiopathy.