Adenovirus myocarditis: retrospective diagnosis by gene amplification from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues

Understanding the pathogenesis of viral myocarditis is linked to the availability of sensitive assays to detect viruses in clinical material. Recent advances in molecular techniques permit direct detection of viral-specific nucleic acid in tissue samples. This report describes a protocol for DNA extraction and amplification of adenovirus genome from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded human tissues that detects as little as 10 copies of viral genome in a background of 0.5 micrograms of human DNA. This sensitive assay permitted the examination of archived tissues to establish a retrospective diagnosis of adenoviral myocarditis in two pediatric patients.