Aim To explore the relationship between the pathogenesis of coronary heart disease and the rearrangement in the mitochondrial DNA(mtDNA). Methods and Results Traced mtDNA was adsorbed by glass milk method and was taken as the templet DNA of PCR directly. The nest PCR was used to test 100 bp corresponding to deleted mitochondrial DNA and was detected in five patients with coronary heart disease. A short fragment of approximately 600 bp correspondeding inserted mitochondrial DNA was detected in one patient with coronary heart disease. These didn't appear in the normals. Another short fragment of approximately 450 bp corresponded to human nucleic genome. Conclusion The mitochondrial CO2 gene may be linked to the pathogenesis of coronary heart disease. The length mutations of the mtDNA that encodes several subunits of the respiratory chain complexes contribute to the depravation of some forms of atherosclerosis.