Difficulties in myocarditis diagnosis: a case report

Abstract

Myocarditis is often difficult to diagnose. The diagnostic difficulties include nonspecific symptoms or a “vague” clinical picture, absence of pathognomonic signs during physical examination, and endomyocardial biopsy, which is the “gold standard” of diagnosis of myocarditis, being an invasive procedure that is performed under strict indications in certain patients. Nevertheless, as radiology is rapidly developing, clinicians are now able to noninvasively diagnose symptoms of inflammatory myocardial damage, including edema and myocardial fibrosis, using cardiac magnetic resonance imaging. This article presents the clinical case of a young patient with symptoms of acute coronary syndrome, who showed no evidence of coronary artery disease. Myocarditis was suspected because of increased activity of cardiospecific enzymes and high levels of inflammatory markers, pronounced electrocardiography changes with positive dynamics, and recent infection. Magnetic resonance imaging was used to confirm myocarditis diagnosis. Thus, this case study demonstrates the role of imaging techniques in the differential diagnosis of ischemic and inflammatory heart diseases.