title: Observation of the in situ contracting heart of guinea pigs infected with Pichinde virus.
abstract: The in situ beating hearts from anesthetized control and Pichinde virus-infected strain 13 guinea pigs, between days 7 and 19 postinoculation, were directly observed and video recorded. Although some hearts from Pichinde virus-infected animals were visually depressed and had altered contraction patterns, such a pronounced cardiac dysfunction was not associated with any marked histopathological changes in the cardiac tissue. The manifestations of cardiac dysfunction were limited mainly to the right side of the heart and occurred only from days 11 to 19 postinoculation. We suggest that certain biochemical "lesions" in the heart after lethal Pichinde virus infection may be present, which may have been caused by the actions of endogenous pathogenic mediators and an overall metabolic deficiency of the infected body.
authors.affiliation: U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases Fort Detrick, Frederick, Maryland 21701-5011.
authors.forename: C T
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001116:Arenaviridae; D001117:Arenaviridae Infections / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000662:veterinary; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004197:Disease Reservoirs; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D008297:Male; D009200:Myocardial Contraction; D012376:Rodent Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology