Circulating anti-heart antibodies in heart diseases detected using an immunofluorescent technique.

Circulating anti-heart antibodies (C-AHAb) were examined in the sera of 132 patients with heart diseases and of 65 normal healthy controls using an indirect immunofluorescent technique. The patient groups consisted of 31 with dilated cardiomyopathy, 22 with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, 38 with myocardial infarction, 15 with angina pectoris and 26 with rheumatic valvular disease. The indirect immunofluorescent staining patterns were classified into 4 types: "heterophile", "intracellular", "intercalated disc" and "nuclear" patterns. The positive incidence of C-AHAb was 81% in dilated cardiomyopathy, 77% in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, 65% in rheumatic valvular disease, 58% in myocardial infarction, 40% in angina pectoris and 39% in normal healthy controls. A high rate of "heterophile" antibodies was found in the idiopathic cardiomyopathy group: 65% in dilated cardiomyopathy and 55% in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The intracellular staining pattern was present in 42% of rheumatic valvular disease. These findings suggest that positive C-AHAb and staining patterns may be useful in the assessment of the pathogenesis of certain types of heart diseases.