Pathophysiology of Myocarditis: State of Art Review.

Myocarditis refers to inflammation of the myocardium caused by infectious and non-infectious process. It should be considered in any patient presenting with unexplained congestive heart failure, ventricular arrhythmias, atrial fibrillation or dilated cardiomyopathy . Prompt diagnosis and treatment is required, otherwise unrecognized myocarditis can rapidly progress to cardiogenic shock with increase in mortality and morbidity. Although various etiologies such as viruses and autoimmune phenomenon have been proposed, there are many unanswered questions regarding the underlying pathophysiology that initiate and trigger myocardial inflammation. These gaps in knowledge need to addressed by developing appropriate myocarditis disease models for understanding the interaction of initial insult, autoimmunity, and host genetics so as to develop novel therapeutic modalities that can halt the disease progression for better clinical outcomes. This review focuses on etiology, pathophysiology, symptomatology, diagnosis, treatment and directions of myocarditis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]