BETHESDA-There’s growing evidence that tightens a link between Chlamydia pneumoniae and coronary atherosclerosis.
In a University of Utah study of coronary specimens from 90 patients who had atherectomy, 79% were positive for C. pneumoniae. This compared with only one positive among 24 nonatherosclerotic coronary specimens taken from an autopsy or a heart graft.
The study, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, follows a report from the University of Louisville last year of
C. pneumoniae grown from a severely stenosed coronary in a 56-year-old man.
The Utah team, led by Dr. J. Brent Muhlestein, cautioned that C. pneumoniae may be an innocent bystander in atherosclerosis. It adds that an atherosclerotic artery may be like “a wonderful garden” in which C. pneumoniae thrive and grow. -Larry Husten
