Immunohistochemical (IHC) methods and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were employed to study the cases of death from alcoholic cardiomyopathy (ACMP) among the patients presenting with interstitial myocarditis who  did not have this condition in their medical histories. IHC studies revealed the expression of anti-parvovirus B19 antibodies in cardiomyocytes (CMC) and inflammatory infiltrate cells of 40% of the patients. These antibodies were expressed in vascular smooth cells and inflammatory infiltrate cells from 70% of the patients. Cardiomyocytes expressed VP1 antigen of enteroviruses. The expression of V19 parvovirus antigen occurred in 67% of the  patients who died from alcoholic cardiomyopathy. The parvovirus V 19 was expressed in a smaller number of cardiomyocytes than enterovirus V1. PCR revealed the presence of parvovirus in 35% of the patients with ACMP compared with 15% of the control subjects. Type 6 herpes simplex virus was identified with the help of PCR in 30% of the patients with alcoholic cardiomyopathy, but only in 8% of the patients in the control group. It is concluded that the use of immunohistochemical methods and polymerase chain reaction extends the diagnostic potential of histiological studies carried out to elucidate etiology of myocarditis in the patients who died from alcoholic cardiomyopathy.