Coxsackie B virus infection in acute myocardial infarction and adult heart disease.

Over a 12-month period, 329 patients admitted to the Coronary Care Unit, Wellington Hospital, New Zealand, were studied for evidence of Coxsackie B virus infection. Fifteen patients (9.8%) with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), three (6.5%) with arrhythmia, and three (25%) with heart failure had serological evidence of Coxsackie B virus infection. During the same period, two control groups were also studied, and the rates of Coxsackie B infection in these groups were compared with that of patients with AMI. The standardised morbidity ratio (SMR) of Coxsackie B infection was 96 for patients with AMI compared with 104.5 for the first control group--that of patients with miscellaneous diseases other than cardiac. The difference between these groups was not significant (P greater than 0.1). However, the SMR of 91.3 for patients with AMI was very high compared with that of 0.0 for the second control group, which consisted of healthy blood donors.