Management of acute myocarditis in children

Abstract

Myocarditis is defined as the inflammation of the myocardium. It continues to be a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in the paediatric population and is the commonest cause of cardiac failure in a healthy child. Some studies estimate the incidence of myocarditis to be around 1 per 100 000. PubMed search was performed using the term 'myocarditis.' The search was limited to age 0-19 years. A total of 50 articles were identified between 1966 to date and reviewed. Myocarditis is a challenging diagnosis to make on clinical grounds and requires high index of suspicion. The cornerstone of treatment remains supportive though therapeutic modalities such as immunosuppressive and intravenous immunoglobulin therapies are being studied extensively. The overall prognosis of the disease is good with survival rates up to 80%.