1. Heart Disease Slideshow Pictures
2. Medical Illustrations of the Heart Image Collection
3. Take the Heart Disease Quiz!

Medical Author:

Daniel Lee Kulick, MD, FACC, FSCAI

Daniel Lee Kulick, MD, FACC, FSCAI

Dr. Kulick received his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Southern California, School of Medicine. He performed his residency in internal medicine at the Harbor-University of California Los Angeles Medical Center and a fellowship in the section of cardiology at the Los Angeles County-University of Southern California Medical Center. He is board certified in Internal Medicine and Cardiology.

View Full Profile

Medical Editor:

William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR

William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR

Dr. Shiel received a Bachelor of Science degree with honors from the University of Notre Dame. There he was involved in research in radiation biology and received the Huisking Scholarship. After graduating from St. Louis University School of Medicine, he completed his Internal Medicine residency and Rheumatology fellowship at the University of California, Irvine. He is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology.

View Full Profile

In this Article

• What is myocarditis?
• What causes myocarditis?
• What are symptoms of myocarditis?
• How is myocarditis diagnosed?
• What is the prognosis (outlook) for patients with myocarditis?
• How is myocarditis treated?
• Patient Comments: Myocarditis - Experience
• Patient Comments: Myocarditis - Symptoms
• Find a local Cardiologist in your town
• Myocarditis Index

The prognosis for long-term damage is not predictable and only becomes evident as the patient is followed by the doctor over time. After the initial phase of myocarditis, some patients can experience complete recovery, others may develop chronic heart failure due to injured heart muscle. Infrequently, some patients develop fulminant heart failure, a fatal condition without heart transplantation.

Patients who have had myocarditis are at some risk for sudden unexpected, potentially fatal, heart rhythm abnormalities. These can often be prevented with implantable defibrillators if the heart muscle damage is severe.

Except in systemic sarcoidosis and immune inflammation (such as from systemic lupus erythematosus) where myocarditis can respond to corticosteroids, no proven effective medications are currently available for treating active myocarditis. Treatment measures mainly involves alleviating heart failure (salt restriction, water pills, ACE inhibitors, beta blockers, etc.) and treating as well as monitoring heart rhythm abnormalities.