Cardiovascular magnetic resonance for the diagnosis of acute myocarditis: prospects for detecting myocardial inflammation.

cute myocarditis is defined as inflammation of the myoardium, most often caused by viral infection or an autoimune process. Myocarditis can lead to life-threatening rrhythmias or cardiogenic shock, chronic dilated cardiomypathy, or spontaneous recovery. Conceptually, the pathoenesis of myocarditis can be divided into three stages: an nitial viral proliferation phase, followed by immunologic esponse and inflammation, and finally myocardial remodling and fibrosis (1). The latter two processes are particuarly amenable to imaging by cardiovascular magnetic resoance (CMR).