Petr Kuchynka, Tomas Palecek, Eduard Nemecek, Michal Fikrle and Ales Linhart Pages 459 - 465 ( 7 )
Inflammatory cardiomyopathy is a term used for left ventricular systolic dysfunction associated with myocarditis. In order to establish definitely the diagnosis, an endomyocardial biopsy (EMB) must be performed. Based on the results of EMB analysis, specific treatment may be added to conventional heart failure therapy. Immunosuppressive therapy in patients with non-viral inflammatory cardiomyopathy has been shown to be effective, and there is also some evidence that antiviral or antimicrobial therapy may be beneficial.
Myocarditis, inflammatory cardiomyopathy, endomyocardial biopsy, immunosuppression, antimicrobial treatment.
, 2nd Department of Medicine – Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, General University Hospital in Prague, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in Prague, U Nemocnice 2, 128 08 Prague 2, Czech Republic