Long-term follow-up of electrocardiographic findings in patients with acute myocarditis proven by endomyocardial biopsy.
Sixteen cases of acute myocarditis, proven by endomyocardial biopsy, of possible viral origin which were described in a previous paper have been followed up for up to 5 years. The cases were divided into 3 groups according to the electrocardiographic (ECG) patterns: with conduction disturbance at the early stage (Group I, 9 cases), without conduction disturbance (Group II, 4 cases); early death cases in which the follow-up could not be carried out (Group III, 3 cases). In Group I, 2 cases revealed persistent complete A-V block, 4 showed incomplete recovery of right bundle branch and/or fascicular blocks, and 3 showed complete recovery of the ECG abnormalities. In Group II, all 4 cases showed a pseudoinfarction pattern which consisted of abnormal Q waves, poor R wave progression and ST elevation. These findings disappeared during the follow-up period. All patients of Groups I and II are still alive after a follow-up period of up to 5 years.
D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001706:Biopsy; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004562:Electrocardiography; D004699:Endocardium / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009205:Myocarditis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology