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Infectious Myocarditis

I can’t breath and my heart is racing

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Introduction to Clinical Infectious Diseases

Abstract

Myocarditis can present for evaluation with a wide range of signs and symptoms. The initial evaluation of these patients requires a high index of suspicion and often involves the performance of many diagnostic and laboratory tests. There are many infectious causes of myocarditis, the most common of which are several viruses, but there are still situations where a causative agent is never identified. The treatment of myocarditis is supportive, including mechanical ventilation and inotropic medications in some patients. The use of immune modulators such as immune globulin or glucocorticoids remains controversial, but both are still used at many large medical centers. The outcomes of patients from myocarditis span the entire spectrum from complete recovery, development of dilated cardiomyopathy, the need for heart transplantation, and death.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Upstate Medical University, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Cardiology, Syracuse, NY, USA

    Matthew Egan

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  1. Matthew Egan
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Correspondence to Matthew Egan .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY, USA

    Joseph Domachowske

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Egan, M. (2019). Infectious Myocarditis. In: Domachowske, J. (eds) Introduction to Clinical Infectious Diseases. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91080-2_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91080-2_11

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-91079-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-91080-2

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