FAILURE TO DETECT CHLAMYDIA-PNEUMONIAE IN CORONARY ATHEROMAS OF PATIENTS UNDERGOING ATHERECTOMY

To further investigate a proposed relationship between Chlamydia pneum oniae and coronary heart disease, coronary atheromas were collected fr om patients undergoing percutaneous atherectomy, Fifty-eight atheroma specimens were examined by culture and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and 22 by electron microscopy, All were negative for C. pneumoniae, e xcept a single specimen that was PCR-positive, These results differ fr om studies in other populations, in which this organism was identified by nonculture methods within coronary atheromas obtained at autopsy, Anti-C, pneumoniae antibody titers from 65 of the patients were compar ed with those of 28 asymptomatic controls, IgG titers were higher in c ontrols than in patients, There is no evidence that C. pneumoniae exis ts within atheromas in this study population, nor does seroprevalence correlate with the presence of coronary disease in these patients.