Acute myocarditis in children: problems of diagnosis and treatment

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Acute myocarditis by the World Health Organization is an inflammatory disease of the heart muscle, confirmed by histologically, immunologically and immunohistochemically. The diagnosis of acute myocarditis in children remains open due to the presence of a number of reasons. First of all, it is difficult to diagnose myocarditis in children due to the variety of clinical manifestations and the presence of nonspecific symptoms of the disease. What matters is the lack of accessibility in the routine practice of a doctor of certain research methods and a sharp limitation in the use of endomyocardial biopsy. The search for differential diagnostic algorithms of the disease continues. According to modern literature, much attention is paid to non-invasive methods for the diagnosis of acute myocarditis in children. The course of acute myocarditis can be complicated by life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias: ventricular extrasystole, lengthening of the corrected QT interval, atrioventricular block. The appearance of cardiac arrhythmias increases the risk of sudden cardiac death. Recommendations for the treatment of myocardium in children often undergo changes due to the small number of multicenter and controlled studies in the pediatric population. The article provides an overview of modern approaches to the treatment of acute myocarditis in children: the use of antiviral drugs, intravenous immunoglobulin, immunosuppressive therapy, especially the treatment of heart failure in acute myocarditis in children.