Viral myocarditis: diagnosis, aetiology and management.
Myocarditis is an inflammatory disease of the cardiac muscle caused by myocardial infiltration of immunocompetent cells following any kind of cardiac injury. Classic myocarditis mainly occurs as a result of the host's immune response against organisms that cause common infectious illnesses, as a manifestation of hypersensitivity or as a toxic reaction to drug therapy. Chronic inflammatory events may survive successful clearance of initial cardiotoxic agents, be triggered or amplified by autoimmunological processes, or develop in the context of systemic diseases. If the underlying infectious or immune-mediated causes of the disease are carefully defined by clinical and biopsy-based tools, specific immunosuppressive and antiviral treatment options may improve the prognosis of patients with acute and chronic disease.
Kühl
Uwe
U
Charite - University Medicine Berlin, Medical Clinic II, Department of Cardiology and Pneumology, Campus Benjamin-Franklin, Berlin, Germany. uwe.kuehl@charite.de
Schultheiss
Heinz-Peter
HP
D000818:Animals; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007249:Inflammation / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D007372:Interferons / Q000502:physiology; D009205:Myocarditis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy* / Q000821:virology*; D011379:Prognosis; D014777:Virus Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy* / Q000821:virology*
D000998:Antiviral Agents; D007372:Interferons