PMID- 18780646
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20081002
LR  - 20080910
IS  - 1214-6994 (Print)
IS  - 1214-6994 (Linking)
VI  - 108
IP  - 4
DP  - 2007
TI  - Significance of Borrelia infection in development of dilated cardiomypathy (a 
      pilot study).
PG  - 339-47
AB  - A heart involvement known as Lyme carditis (LC), a consequence of Lyme 
      borreliosis (LB), is relatively rare in contrast to the involvement of skin, 
      joints and nervous system; it accounts for < 4% of all these patients in European 
      countries. However, the diagnosis of the disease belongs to the most difficult 
      challenges. While various forms of AV blocks dominate in the USA as confirmed by 
      the literature, there is a clear predominance of arrhythmias of various incidence 
      in the Czech Republic. The authors of this article focused on the form belonging 
      to the rarest manifestations of LC, namely dilated cardiomyopathy (DCMP). The 
      goal was to elucidate the etiological participation of Borrelia infection in the 
      development of DCMP, which has attracted controversial opinions so far. In total, 
      33 patients with DCMP were enrolled in the study, 23 males and 10 females, with 
      mean age 57.7 years (range 24-76 years). ELISA NRLB KC 90 method was used in all 
      blood samples for detection of Borrelia infection (BI), Western blot method was 
      used for confirmation, followed by identification of DNA of pathogenic Borreliae 
      using PCR method. Bioptic material was examined by electronmicroscopy with an 
      attempt to detect Spirochaetae in myocardium. 16 patients were excluded from the 
      study owing to the absence of signs of LB. The study group included 17 patients 
      (3 females, 13 males) with mean age 58 years (range 43-76 years), in whom the 
      presence of Bb was proved by identification of DNA of pathogenic Borreliae or by 
      electronmicroscopic detection of Spirochetae in myocardial bioptic sample. The 
      findings obtained during the study confirmed that BI very probably participated 
      in the development of dilated cardiomyopathy. It may be concluded that most of 
      cases were either unapparent forms of LB or insufficiently treated cutaneous 
      forms of this disease.
FAU - Bartunek, P
AU  - Bartunek P
AD  - Charles University in Prague, First Faculty of Medicine and General Teaching 
      Hospital, Fourth Department of Internal Medicine, Prague, Czech Republic. 
      petr.bartunek@lf1.cuni.cz
FAU - Gorican, K
AU  - Gorican K
FAU - Veiser, T
AU  - Veiser T
FAU - Taborsky, M
AU  - Taborsky M
FAU - Hulinska, D
AU  - Hulinska D
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
PL  - Czech Republic
TA  - Prague Med Rep
JT  - Prague medical report
JID - 101227436
RN  - 0 (DNA, Bacterial)
SB  - IM
MH  - Adult
MH  - Aged
MH  - Borrelia/isolation & purification
MH  - Cardiomyopathy, Dilated/*microbiology
MH  - DNA, Bacterial/blood
MH  - Female
MH  - Humans
MH  - Lyme Disease/*complications
MH  - Male
MH  - Middle Aged
EDAT- 2008/09/11 09:00
MHDA- 2008/10/03 09:00
CRDT- 2008/09/11 09:00
PHST- 2008/09/11 09:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2008/10/03 09:00 [medline]
PHST- 2008/09/11 09:00 [entrez]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Prague Med Rep. 2007;108(4):339-47.