Antibiotic treatment trials for secondary prevention of coronary artery disease events.

The TWAR organism was described as a cause of respiratory infection in 1986.1 In 1989, it was declared a new species of Chlamydia and named Chlamydia pneumoniae.2 In 1988, Saikku et al3 reported a small seroepidemiological study suggesting a possible association between TWAR infection and atherosclerosis. Information on the association of C pneumoniae and atherosclerosis has accumulated rapidly since that time. More than 20 seroepidemiological studies have confirmed an association, and several have failed to find it.4 The seroepidemiological studies have been most useful in calling attention to the possibility of an association rather than suggesting possible mechanisms.