Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) represents the third most common cause of heart
failure and the most frequent cause of heart transplantation. Infectious, mostly
viral, and autoimmune mechanisms, together with genetic abnormalities, have been
reported as three major causes of DCM. We hypothesized that Lyme disease (LD),
caused by spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb), might be an important cause of
new-onset unexplained DCM in patients living in a highly endemic area for LD
such as the Czech Republic.

Full article: http://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/elink.fcgi?dbfrom=pubmed&id=20052487&retmode=ref&cmd=prlinks
PMID: 20052487  [PubMed – as supplied by publisher]

http://www.springerlink.com/content/b8x4742136623114/

Excerpt:

Abstract Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) represents the third most common cause of heart failure and the most frequent cause of heart transplantation. Infectious, mostly viral, and autoimmune mechanisms, together with genetic abnormalities, have been reported as three major causes of DCM. We hypothesized that Lyme disease (LD), caused by spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb), might be an important cause of new-onset unexplained DCM in patients living in a highly endemic area for LD such as the Czech Republic.