[Pathological-anatomical findings after serologic and molecular biologic evidence of Hantaan virus infection]

Post-mortem findings in a girl aged 2 years and 4 months who had been infected with Hantaan virus are reported. The child fell ill with acute renal failure in her 8th month of life and had to be subjected to chronic dialysis. There was a progressive cardiac insufficiency. Specific IgG and IgM antibodies to Hantaan virus were demonstrated by serology from the 18th month of life. Autopsy revealed endomyocardial fibrosis and cardiomegaly. Hantaan RNA could be demonstrated in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded specimens of lung, liver and spleen tissue by means of RT-PCR followed by DNA sequencing. A possible association between the Hantaan virus infection and the pathological findings in the heart are discussed.