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Herpesvirus infection and thoracic aortic aneurysm: Synthesis of evidence and contradictions
Andrey V Suslov, Zukhra B Khasanova, Aleksandr D Doroschuk, Anton Yu Postnov, Laboratory of Cardiovascular Pathomorphology, National Medical Research Center of Cardiology (Aca
Anton S Buchaka, Anton Yu Postnov, Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Cardiovascular Pathology, Petrovsky National Research Center of Surgery, Moscow 119991, Russia
Author contributions: Suslov AV designed the study, analyzed the data, wrote the manuscript and performed statistical analysis; Khasanova ZB performed the PCR analysis and contributed to data interpretation; Buchaka AS performed the histological and immunohistochemical analysis; Doroschuk AD participated in tissue sample processing and wrote the manuscript; Postnov AY designed the study, analyzed the data and acquired funding; all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
AI contribution statement: AI tools (specifically DeepSeek, version 202503) were used solely for grammar and punctuation checking, as well as for language polishing of the manuscript. No AI tool was involved in study design, data collection, data analysis, interpretation of results, or formulation of conclusions. All the AIgenerated suggestions were critically reviewed and revised by the authors, who take full responsibility for the accuracy, originality, and integrity of the manuscript.
Supported by the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, State Assignment to the National Medical Research Center of Cardiology (Academician E.I. Chazov), No. 124020100084-4.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Petrovsky National Research Center of Surgery (Approval No. 3).
Informed consent statement: The requirement for written informed consent was waived by the Institutional Review Board due to the retrospective nature of the study and the use of anonymized tissue samples.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Data sharing statement: The author stated that the data of this study can be obtained by contacting the corresponding author under reasonable circumstances.
Corresponding author: Andrey V Suslov, Research Fellow, Laboratory of Cardiovascular Pathomorphology, National Medical Research Center of Cardiology (Academician E.I. Chazov), 15A Ulitsa Akademika Chazova, Moscow 121552, Russia. dr_suslov@mail.ru
Received: April 29, 2026
Revised: June 16, 2026
Accepted: July 7, 2026
Published online: July 26, 2026
Processing time: 80 Days and 13.4 Hours
Revised: June 16, 2026
Accepted: July 7, 2026
Published online: July 26, 2026
Processing time: 80 Days and 13.4 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: In this study, Epstein-Barr virus DNA was detected in only one patient with aortic dissection (5.6%). Inflammatory infiltrates in the dissection group consisted predominantly of CD4⁺ T cells and CD68⁺ macrophages. Our findings do not support a causal relationship between herpesvirus infection and thoracic aortic aneurysm in this cohort.