Detection of enteroviral ribonucleic acid in myocardial biopsies from patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy by polymerase chain reaction

Infection by enteroviruses, especially by Coxsackie B viruses, has been incriminated in pathogenesis of dilated cardiomyopathy. We developed polymerase chain reaction tests for the detection of enteroviral and Coxsackie B3 genomes, respectively, in myocardial biopsies obtained from a homogeneous group of 19 patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy. To determine unambiguously the incidence of enteroviruses and Coxsackie B3 viruses in these...