People having myocarditis have signs like stabbing chest pains, palpitations that is caused by arrhythmias, congestive failure of the heart. The congestive heart failure leads to hepatic congestion, edema and a feeling of breathlessness. Myocarditis can also cause fever that is the rheumatic fever and sudden death at times. Myocarditis is most of the times caused by viral infections due to which there are symptoms like diarrhea, pain in the joints and extreme fatigue. Myocarditis is linked with pericarditis often. Many patients show signs and symptoms that points to concurrent myocarditis and pericarditis. There are many factors that leads to the formation of myocarditis in the heart. The factors causing myocarditis have been identified by experts.
Viral infections like the presence of viruses like enterovirus, Coxsackie virus, rubella virus, polio virus, cytomegalovirus, and hepatitis C can cause myocarditis. Bacterias like brucella, corynebacterium diphtheriae, gonococcus, haemophilus influenzae, actinomyces, tropheryma whipplei, and vibrio cholerae are the causes of myocarditis. Spirochetal like borrelia burgdorferi, leptospirosis and protozoal infection like toxoplasma gondii and trypanosoma cruzi are the causes of myocarditis. Parasites like Echinococcus granulosus, visceral larva migrans, Wuchereria bancrofti, schistosoma, Taenia solium and trichinella spiralis. Drugs too are the contributing factors in causing myocrditis. Drugs containing chemotherapy, ethanol, and antipsychotics can cause this heart disease along with toxins and heavy metals. Electric shock, hyperpyrexia, and radiation too causes the disease.
Myocardium can be diagnosed on the results of electrocardiographic results (ECG), elevated CRP and/or ESR and increased IgM (serology). Markers of myocardial damage (troponin or creatine kinase cardiac isoenzymes) are advanced. The ECG show the diffusion of the T wave inversions and the elevations of saddle-shaped ST-segment. These are also found in pericarditis. The best way to detect myocarditis is biopsy of the myocardium that can be done by angiography. The biopsy can be done by the tissue sample of the endocardium and myocardium. A pathologists tests it under light microscopy, immunochemistry and special staining methods. Histopathological features of myocardium are myocardial interstitium accompanied by edema and inflammatory infiltrate, with ample lymphocytes and macrophages. Focal destruction of myocytes are the reasons for failure of myocardial pump.
