Table 2. Amplification of 16S rRNA for the detection of Bartonella spp in healthy volunteers (controls) and patients with heart diseases from Brazil and Argentina.

Group	Number of samples*	Positive PCR (16S rRNA)	Negative PCR (16S rRNA)
Controls	56	1 (1.8%)	55 (98.2%)
Cases#	148	60 (40.5%)	88 (59.5%)
Total	204	61 (29.9%)	143 (70.1%)

^*Samples from the two countries.

^#Asymptomatic subjects from Argentina were not included.