Coxsackievirus was first discovered as a filterable agent associated with a paralytic syndrome, so named for its identification in Coxsackie, New York (coxsackievirus type A).1 Coxsackievirus type B (CVB) was isolated the following year from patients with aseptic meningitis,2 and by the mid-1950s, an association with acute myocarditis in humans was becoming clear.3–6 Many other viruses have sin...

The sera from A.SW/SnJ mice infected with Coxsackievirus B3 (CB3) were tested on normal mouse tissue by indirect immunofluorescence. Heart-reactive antibodies were found. Absorption studies with organ extracts showed some of these autoantibodies to be heart-specific. Additional antibodies were crossreactive with skeletal muscle and kidney. These findings suggest a role for autoimmunity in the p...

Myocarditis is an inflammatory disease of the heart, which can persist over a long time. During this time, known as the chronic phase of myocarditis, ongoing inflammation damages the cardiomyocytes. The loss of cardiac cells culminates in the development of dilated cardiomyopathy, often followed by non-ischemic heart failure due to diminished cardiac function. During the course of the disease, ...

Immune responses against cardiac myosin and group A streptococcal M protein have been implicated in the pathogenesis of rheumatic heart disease. Although cardiac myosin is known to produce myocarditis in susceptible animals, it has never been investigated for its role in production of valvular heart disease, the most serious sequelae of group A streptococcal infection in acute rheumatic fever. ...

Myocarditis is defined as an inflammatory process of the heart muscle. The symptoms are often nonspecific, and it can mimic acute coronary syndrome. Although the majority of patients recover fully, in some cases myocarditis can lead to dilated cardiomyopathy and even death. Available diagnostic tools are unsatisfactory and there is a need to develop noninvasive techniques that can aid diagnosis...

RATIONALE Myocardial fibrosis is a hallmark of inflammation-triggered end-stage heart disease, a common cause of heart failure in young patients. OBJECTIVE We used CD4(+) T-cell-mediated experimental autoimmune myocarditis model to determine the parameters regulating cardiac fibrosis in inflammatory heart disease. METHODS AND RESULTS alpha-Myosin heavy chain peptide/complete Freund's adjuva...

Fulminant myocarditis has been defined as the clinical manifestation of cardiac inflammation with rapid-onset heart failure and cardiogenic shock. We report on the case of a 23-yr-old woman with pathology-proven fulminant lymphocytic myocarditis presenting shock with elevated cardiac troponin I and ST segments in V1-2, following sustained ventricular tachycardia and a complete atrioventricular ...

Heart failure (HF) is a prognostically unfavorable complication of cardiovascular diseases. The presented case report describes the management patient with severe progressive biventricular HF due to myocarditis, refractory therapy and requiring heart transplantation. Issues timely diagnosis feasibility radical surgical treatment are discussed.

A 72-year-old female with late onset systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) was admitted with chest pain and dyspnoea, and was submitted to investigation by echocardiogram, cardiovascular magnetic resonance(CMR) and serology panel. Morphological and functional studies of the heart revealed conspicuous inflammatory signs and moderate effusion compatible with myocarditis and pericarditis. Myocarditis...

BACKGROUND The pathologic diagnosis of isolated myocarditis without pericardial involvement is uncommonly encountered in systemic onset Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (soJIA). CASE An eleven year-old boy with soJIA died suddenly while being treated with the interleukin 1 (IL-1) receptor inhibitor, anakinra. His autopsy revealed an enlarged heart and microscopic findings were consistent with my...