© 2003 by European Society of Cardiology
Copyright © 2003, European Society of Cardiology
Myocarditis and inflammatory cardiomyopathy: microbiological and molecular biological aspects
Department of Pathology, University of Padua Medical School, Via Gabelli, 61, 35121 Padua, Italy
*Corresponding author. Tel.: +39-049-827-2268; fax: +39-049-827-2269. Email address: fiorella.calabrese{at}unipd.it
Myocarditis is an inflammatory disease of the myocardium associated with cardiac dysfunction. The natural history of myocarditis is frequently characterised by the evolution in dilated cardiomyopathy. Due to its variable clinical manifestation from latent to very severe clinical forms, such as acute congestive heart failure and sudden death, its prevalence is still unknown and probably underestimated. In spite of the development of various diagnostic modalities, early and definite diagnosis of myocarditis still depends on the detection of inflammatory infiltrates in endomyocardial biopsy specimens according to the Dallas criteria. Routine application of immunohistochemistry, used for identification and characterisation of inflammatory cell populations, has now significantly increased the sensistivity of the diagnosis of inflammatory cardiomyopathy. Various molecular techniques, such as PCR, gene sequencing and real-time PCR, often applied on the same endomyocardial specimen, have become an essential part of the diagnostic armamentarium for rapid, specific and sensitive identification of infective agents. The correct application of molecular techniques will allow increasingly more information to be obtained: new epidemiology, new patient risk stratification and overall more appropriate medical treatment.
KEYWORDS Myocarditis; Cardiomyopathy; Inflammation; Inflammation/infection
Time for primary review 21 days.
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  A. Valaperti, R. R. Marty, G. Kania, D. Germano, N. Mauermann, S. Dirnhofer, B. Leimenstoll, P. Blyszczuk, C. Dong, C. Mueller, et al. CD11b+ Monocytes Abrogate Th17 CD4+ T Cell-Mediated Experimental Autoimmune Myocarditis J. Immunol., February 15, 2008; 180(4): 2686 - 2695. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 G. Thiene, D. Corrado, and C. Basso Revisiting definition and classification of cardiomyopathies in the era of molecular medicine Eur. Heart J., January 2, 2008; 29(2): 144 - 146. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 A R Lyon, M Sato, R J Hajjar, R J Samulski, and S E Harding Gene therapy: targeting the myocardium Heart, January 1, 2008; 94(1): 89 - 99. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
A. Frustaci, M. A. Russo, and C. Chimenti Myocarditis in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: reply Eur. Heart J., July 1, 2007; 28(13): 1664 - 1664. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 T. Yajima, H. Yasukawa, E.-S. Jeon, D. Xiong, A. Dorner, M. Iwatate, M. Nara, H. Zhou, D. Summers-Torres, M. Hoshijima, et al. Innate Defense Mechanism Against Virus Infection Within the Cardiac Myocyte Requiring gp130-STAT3 Signaling Circulation, November 28, 2006; 114(22): 2364 - 2373. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
G. Thiene, D. Corrado, and C. Basso Cardiomyopathies: is it time for a molecular classification? Eur. Heart J., October 2, 2004; 25(20): 1772 - 1775. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 F. Calabrese, A. C van der Wal, and M. Levi Infection and inflammation in the cardiovascular system Cardiovasc Res, October 15, 2003; 60(1): 1 - 4. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|