Investigation of parvovirus B19 in cardiac tissue from patients with congenital heart disease

Objective To explore the correlation between human parvovirus B19 (HPV-B19) and congenital heart disease (CHD) and to investigate the teratogenic effect of HPV-B19. Methods A case control study was conducted to investigate the embedded autopsy cardiac tissues of 29 cases of CHD and 30 controls without CHD with nest polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Other viruses, including herpes simplex virus (HSV), Toxoplasma gondii (TOX), cytomegalovirus (CMV) and rubella virus (RV) were also studied in 10 cases of each group with corresponding PCR kits. Results Five of 29 (17.2%) CHD cases were positive for HPV-B19, while all the 30 controls were negative for HPV-B19 (P = 0.0237). All cases studied were negative for both HSV and TOX. Three cases in each group were positive for CMV, with presence of HPV-B19 DNA in 2 cases in the CHD group. Only two cases in the CHD group showed positive reaction for RV. Conclusions As far as we know, it is the first report of the presence of HPV-B19 in cardiac tissues of CHD patients. The detection rate of HPV-B19 DNA is significantly different between the two groups, inferring that HPV-B19 might be correlated with CHD.