Myocarditis and Inflammatory Cardiomyopathy
Abstract
Activation of the inflammatory system occurs in most patients with advanced heart failure, regardless of etiology, and contributes to the pathophysiological milieu and the progression of the disease. The term inflammatory cardiomyopathy (ICM) refers to a group of disorders for which an acute or chronic myocardial inflammation is the central cause of abnormal cardiac structure or impaired cardiac function. The most common cause of inflammatory cardiomyopathy is lymphocytic myocarditis, which is most usually triggered by a viral infection, and occasionally by other infectious agents. Rare causes of specific inflammatory cardiomyopathies include cardiac sarcoidosis, giant cell myocarditis and eosinophilic myocarditis. Inflammatory cardiomyopathy can also occur in connection with autoimmune inflammatory diseases. Typical manifestations of inflammatory cardiomyopathy include chest pain, heart failure, and arrhythmias, but these symptoms and signs are unspecific. Although non-invasive diagnostic methods are emerging, the gold standard of diagnosis is the histological examination of an endomyocardial biopsy. Owing to the invasive nature of this technique and a modest diagnostic sensitivity, its use is limited. Therefore, the identification of inflammatory cardiomyopathy is elusive and the true incidence of the condition remains unknown. In most cases of lymphocytic myocarditis, recovery occurs within a few weeks following supportive treatment. In patients with cardiac sarcoidosis,…
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a randomized trial. Its evidence level is 2 of 5 (High · randomized trial). Randomized trials of a reasonable size are the strongest single-study design.
Read the paper
Related studies
- Strategy for Mitigating DKA Risk in Patients with Type 1 Diabetes on Adjunctive Treatment with SGLT Inhibitors: A STICH Protocol
- Glucoraphanin: a broccoli sprout extract that ameliorates obesity-induced inflammation and insulin resistance
- SGLT2 Inhibitors in Heart Failure: Targeted Metabolomics and Energetic Metabolism
- Mechanisms of blood pressure reduction with sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors
- Sodium-glucose cotransporter inhibitors: beyond glycaemic control
- Decoding the effects of SGLT2 inhibitors on cardiac arrhythmias in heart failure
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.