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Myocarditis - Symptom

Alternative Names

Inflammation - heart muscle

Symptoms:

There may be no symptoms. If symptoms occur, they may include:

Abnormal heartbeat
Chest pain that may resemble a heart attack
Fatigue
Fever and other signs of infection including headache, muscle aches, sore throat, diarrhea, or rashes
Joint pain or swelling
Leg swelling
Shortness of breath

Other symptoms that may occur with this disease:

Fainting, often related to irregular heart rhythms
Low urine output

Signs and tests:

A physical examination may reveal the following:

Abnormal heartbeat or heart sounds (murmurs, extra heart sounds)
Fluid in the lungs
Rapid heartbeat (tachycardia)
Swelling (edema) in the legs

Tests used to diagnosis myocarditis include:

Blood cultures for infection
Blood tests for antibodies against the heart muscle and the body itself
Chest x-ray
Electrocardiogram (ECG)
Heart muscle biopsy (endomyocardial biopsy)
Red blood cell count
Ultrasound of the heart (echocardiogram)
White blood cell count

Heart, section through the middle

Heart, front view

Lymph tissue in the head and neck.

Reviewed last on: 5/15/2008
Alan Berger, MD, Assistant Professor, Divisions of Cardiology and Epidemiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

References

Liu PP, Schultheiss HP. Myocarditis. In: Libby P, Bonow RO, Mann DL, Zipes DP. Libby: Braunwald's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine. 8th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2007;chap 66.

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