DETECTION OF ENTEROVIRAL RNA BY POLYMERASE CHAIN-REACTION IN ENDOMYOCARDIAL TISSUE OF PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC CARDIAC DISEASES

Enteroviruses are suspected to be etiologic agents in myocarditis and cardiomyopathy. The prevalence of enteroviral (EV) heart infection in patients with chronic cardiomyopathy was determined through detection of specific EV genomic sequences using reverse transcription and polym erase chain reaction (RT-PCR) followed by slot blotting. Endomyocardia l biopsies from the explanted hearts of 19 patients with dilated cardi omyopathy (DCM) and 14 patients with chronic coronary disease (CCD) we re examined. EV genome was detected in 11 of 19 patients with DCM and in 8 of 14 patients with CCD. Ventricular biopsies from the control gr oup, which included 35 healthy heart patients and 33 patients with myo cardial infarction, were negative by EV RT-PCR. The percentage of pati ents showing presence of EV-RNA was almost similar in the DCM (57.9%) and CCD (57.1%) groups. The present study demonstrates that enteroviru s RNA sequences persist in the myocardium in a significant proportion of patients suffering from end-stage ischaemic and dilated cardiac dis eases and supports the hypothesis of a possible direct link between EV infection and the pathogenesis of chronic heart disease. (C) 1996 Wil ey-Liss, Inc.