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Editors at the _New England Journal of Medicine_ have retracted a paper published in 1998 against the wishes of the authors because it is believed to contain a doctored version of a figure
published by another group, in another journal eight years earlier. The retraction appeared in the 11 July issue of _NEJM_, accompanied by the editorial note, “because of the unmistakable
similarity between the figures (the cellular aspects of Figure 1 and Figure 2 are fully superimposable in transparencies), we must retract publication of the article by Barbaro _et al_.” The
work, by Giuseppe Barbaro at the University la Sapienza in Rome, focuses on dilated cardiomyopathy in HIV-infected patients and presence of the virus in heart cells. The figure in question
is an _in situ_ hybridization of an HIV RNA probe in a heart biopsy from an infected patient. The HIV detection method used was the same as that in the earlier paper by Grody _et al_.
published in 1990 in the _American Journal of Cardiology_—one of the first to document HIV infection in heart cells. One of the authors of the Grody paper alerted _NEJM_ editors to the
similarity in February. Barbaro and co-authors have since submitted a letter to _NEJM_ saying that they “do not agree with a retraction” and “strongly defend the scientific value of the
article.” Barbaro has accused the editors of taking their decision without proper consultation. “I asked that those involved could meet with external experts named by all parties,” Barbaro
told _Nature Medicine_, “so that the materials could be validated.” However, _NEJM_ executive editor, Gregory Curfman, said the editors “conducted [their] own investigation using a
consultant outside of the journal's office.” According to Curfman, the figure was inverted top-to-bottom and side-to-side and pixels were added, suggesting increased HIV RNA, that were
not in the original figure, indicating to the editors “intentional doctoring.” It has long since been known that HIV patients have increased risk of cardiomyopathy due to viral infection and
inflammation. “For those of us in the field,” says Steven Lipshultz, an expert on the subject who has published a several papers with Barbaro, but not the one in question, “the beauty of
the [Barbaro _et al_.] study was the size and design.” The study followed 952 asymptomatic HIV-positive individuals for a mean period of over 5 years. “But the findings have been confirmed
over and over again in adults and children,” says Lipshultz. There are more than 2,000 papers on HIV in heart disease. “It is hard to know what to do with this particular one,” he says.
AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Bethesda Laura Bonetta Authors * Laura Bonetta View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar RIGHTS AND
PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Bonetta, L. NEJM retracts HIV heart paper. _Nat Med_ 8, 770 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0802-770b Download
citation * Issue Date: 01 August 2002 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0802-770b SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: Get shareable
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