Specificity of detection of Chlamydia pneumoniae in cardiovascular atheroma

Chlamydia pneumoniae is commonly detected in atherosclerotic plaque but the frequency of detection in non-cardiovascular (CV) tissues has not been well determined. In this study, archival autopsy tissue specimens from both CV and non-CV sites from 38 patients were tested by polymerase chain reaction and immunocytochemistry to detect C. pneumoniae. In addition, 33 surgical granuloma biopsy specimens were also tested. C. pneumoniae was detected most frequently in coronary artery tissue (34%) but was also detected in specimens from lung (13%), liver (10%), spleen (5%), bone marrow (10%), and lymph node (8%). The organism was detected in 3 of 33 granuloma specimens. These findings suggest that C. pneumoniae demonstrates a tropism for CV tissues and is either not widely distributed to non-CV tissues or does not persist chronically in those tissues after initial infection.