“Myocarditis is an inflammatory process of the myocardium. It can present in the acute, subacute, or chronic phase with either focal or diffuse involvement of the myocardium. In the United States and other developed countries, viral infections are most frequently the cause of myocarditis…
In symptomatic patients, the presentation can be highly variable from generalized fatigue, malaise, chest pain, congestive heart failure (CHF), cardiogenic shock, arrhythmias, and even cardiac arrest…
All patients diagnosed or suspected to have acute myocarditis should be admitted to the hospital and be monitored for hemodynamic instability. Immediate complications of myocarditis include ventricular dysrhythmias, left ventricular aneurysm, CHF, and dilated cardiomyopathy. The mortality rate is up to 20% at 1 year and 50% at 5 years. Despite optimal medical management, overall mortality has not changed in the last 30 years.”