Myocarditis is inflammation of the heart muscle, often caused by viral infections. Symptoms include exhaustion, shortness of breath, chest pain, and irregular heartbeat. Diagnosis involves tests such as X-rays and blood tests. Treatment depends on severity and cause, ranging from rest to heart medication or even surgery.
The heart muscles or muscle wall are called myocardium and if this wall becomes inflamed, the condition is known as myocarditis. There are many potential causative factors for heart swelling, but the most common are viral infections. In the past, the greatest number of cases of myocarditis resulted from rheumatic fever, a complication of streptococcal virus infection. Today, treating most strep infections with antibiotics prevents the condition from progressing into rheumatic fever and potential damage to the heart muscles.
There are many causes of myocarditis, and many of them aren’t exactly preventable. People can get this from complications from viruses, especially coxsackievirus B, and Epstein-Barr virus, fifth disease, measles, and HIV. Bacterial infection can also result in myocarditis, and those bacteria most commonly involved in the disease include staph bacteria, diphtheria bacteria, and bacteria carried by ticks infected with Lyme disease. Other things could cause this condition as well, including exposure to certain chemicals or molds, fungal infections, and some autoimmune diseases like lupus.
The main symptoms of myocarditis include exhaustion, possibly fever, symptoms more common in children, shortness of breath even when not exercising, and shooting pain in the chest. People may also have an irregular heartbeat or incidences when the heart does not beat regularly (arrhythmia). Some people may have very mild cases, which don’t have many symptoms, and may recover from myocarditis realizing they never had it. Other times the symptoms, which can also include flu-like symptoms, are hard to miss and dangerous to ignore. Whenever this condition is suspected, people should alert their doctors to test for its presence because it can cause permanent heart damage.
Doctors will use a variety of methods to check for myocarditis, and common tests are X-rays or echocardiograms (ultrasound of the heart) to evaluate heart function and look for enlargement. Blood tests might be used to confirm the presence of a viral or bacterial infection, and other scans or slightly more invasive procedures such as cardiac catheterization may be needed if heart function appears significantly impaired.
Treatment will depend on the severity of the condition and its cause. Cases caused by viruses may not require much treatment, and especially if the inflammation is mild, people can simply rest at home and have further scans in the future to make sure the inflammation clears up. If the disease is caused by a bacterial infection, antibiotics may help. Although less common, some people with myocarditis require hospitalization and heart medications to help the heart function while the myocardium remains inflamed. In very rare circumstances the damage to the heart is so severe that it requires corrective surgery or a heart transplant.
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