[Presence of Chlamydia pneumoniae in the carotid artery]
Dariusz Janczak1, Jan Skóra, Artur Pupka
1Klinika Chirurgii Naczyniowej, Ogólnej i Transplantacyjnej AM we Wrocławiu.
Unlabelled:
There is growing experimental evidence that Chlamydia pneumoniae is a risk factor and contribute to the development of atherosclerosis of carotid artery. This process might cause stenosis of carotid artery and TIA or stroke.
Aim:
Aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of Ch. pneumoniae infection in carotid artery stenosis patients and in control group-healthy artery from multiorgan donors.
Material And Methods:
From each of 84 patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy the samples were analyzed by nested PCR for Ch. pneumoniae DNA. Furthermore we determined DNA Ch. pneumoniae in carotid artery from 20 multiorgan donors.
Results:
In control group-healthy artery the PCR for Ch. pneumoniae was negative in all samples. Ch. pneumoniae was detected in 57 patients (67.85%) with symptomatic carotid artery stenosis, however in 27 patients (32.15%) the PCR test was negative.
Conclusions:
We did not observe infection of Ch. pneumoniae in healthy carotid artery-control group. We noted great frequency of infection in patients with stenosis of carotid artery. Patients with stenosis of carotid artery can be candidates to antibiotic therapy, which can slow down the progression of artery stenosis.
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