Cardiac involvement in dengue virus infections during the 2004/2005 dengue fever season in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka experienced a dramatic increase in dengue cases (15,400) in the 2004 - 2005 season. We carried out a prospective study to investigate cardiac involvement in dengue virus infected patients during the 2004 - 2005 season in Peradeniya, Central Province, Sri Lanka. Cardiac involvement was defined as elevated levels of myoglobin, creatine kinase-muscle brain-type, N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide, heart-type fatty acid-binding protein and troponin T. Twenty-five percent of dengue virus infected patients had one or more of the above tests with abnormal results.