Background Enteroviruses were detected in up to 50% in myocardium of patien
ts with myocarditis and dilated cardiomyopathy, the latter being considered
as a result of a prior subclinical myocarditis. A wide range of other infe
ctious agents are being discussed as pathogens, often only based on reports
of single cases. Adenovirus genome was recently identified in a significan
t number in the myocardium of paediatric patients with myocarditis, However
, data on the role of adenoviruses for the aetiopathogenesis of myocarditis
in adult patients is missing so far. Therefore, we studied the prevalence
of adenoviral and enteroviral genome in myocardium of adults with myocardit
is and di fated cardiomyopathy.
Methods 15 patients were diagnosed at baseline with myocarditis, 16 patient
s with dilated cardiomyopathy according to clinical and histological criter
ia. Endomyocardial biopsies of these patients and 8 control patients with n
on-infectious heart diseases were evaluated by polymerase chain reactions f
or enterovirus and adenovirus genome.
Results Enteroviral genome was detected in 27.3% patients with myocarditis
or dilated cardiomyopathy, whereas adenoviral genome was not identified in
any patient. Samples from control subjects systematically yielded negative
results.
Conclusions From our data, it seems doubtful that adenoviruses are major pa
thogens of myocarditis or DCM, whereas enterovirus genome was identified in
a significant number of patients with both diseases.