Prior cytomegalovirus infection does not predict clinical outcome after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty.

Background: A direct association between human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection and the development of restenosis after coronary angioplasty has been suggested. The aim of this prospective study was to evaluate the value of HCMV serology in predicting the clinical outcome after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA).

Methods And Results: 112 patients undergoing elective PTCA were included in the study.

Humoral immune response to human cytomegalovirus in patients undergoing percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty.

Possible causal relations between prior human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection and atherosclerosis and between HCMV reactivation and restenosis after coronary angioplasty have been suggested. We investigated patterns of antibodies directed to HCMV in 112 patients undergoing percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) and in a group of sex- and age-matched controls (blood donors without evidence of atherosclerosis). Levels of antibodies to HCMV were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) of serum samples drawn before and 5 weeks after PTCA.