COVID-19 and acute myocarditis: current literature review and diagnostic challenges

SUMMARY INTRODUCTION In the current literature, there has been an upsurge of cases of COVID-19-induced acute myocarditis. In this case-based review, we aimed to describe the clinical characteristics, imaging findings, and in-hospital course of acute myocarditis. In addition, the limitations of the myocarditis diagnosis were discussed since only fulminant myocarditis cases have been mentioned in the current literature. METHODS We performed a review of the literature of all patients who were diagnosed with COVID-19-induced acute myocarditis using the databases of PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane. RESULTS 16 case reports were found to be related to COVID-19-induced acute myocarditis. We observed that the ECG findings in most of the COVID-19 patients were non-specific, including diffuse ST-segment elevation, non-specific intraventricular conduction delay, sinus tachycardia, and inverted T-waves in anterior leads. Echocardiographic findings of COVID-19-induced acute myocarditis patients ranged from preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) without segmental abnormalities to reduced LVEF with global hypokinesia. Interestingly, a few patients with COVID-19-induced acute fulminant myocarditis were steroid-responsive and had an amelioration with glucocorticoid and immunoglobulin therapy. CONCLUSION Despite the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide, a limited number of cases has been shared in the current literature. There are a lot of difficulties in the differential diagnosis of acute myocarditis in the context of COVID-19.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Çınar,Tufan, Hayıroğlu,Mert İlker, Çiçek,Vedat, Uzun,Mehmet, Orhan,Ahmet Lütfullah
Format: Digital revista
Language:English
Published: Associação Médica Brasileira 2020
Online Access:http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0104-42302020001400048
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