Myocarditis and Cardiomyopathy

Abstract

For most physicians "myocarditis" means not only inflammation but also infection of the myocardium. Whether that meaning is correct or not, it is what the term suggests to most of us. Thus, when "myocarditis" is used to describe the heart in pheochromocytoma¹ or in Friedreich's ataxia,² there is an element of unintended deception at least for the former and probably for the latter, given that an infectious source is not known to be present in either disease. When we think of infections of the myocardium, viruses quickly spring to mind, but proof that they are to blame remains disappointingly elusive. . . .