Enteroviral RNA in dilated cardiomyopathy.

The exact cause of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) remains uncertain. However, a possibility of transition from coxsackievirus-infected myocarditis to DCM has been suspected. We investigated the role of enteroviral infection in the pathogenesis of DCM. The nested reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (nRT-PCR) was used to detect enteroviral RNA in 45 endomyocardial biopsy tissues obtained from 35 patients with DCM and 10 patients (controls) with other non-infectious cardiac diseases. Enteroviral RNA was detected in 17 (49%) of the 35 patients with DCM. The progression to cardiac failure was rapid, usually within 12 months, and myocardial fibrosis and myocytic hypertrophy were marked in patients that were enteroviral RNA positive. Enteroviral RNA was not detected in any controls.