Acute eosinophilic myocarditis with dramatic response to steroid therapy: the central role of echocardiography in diagnosis and follow-up

Tex Heart Inst J. 2013;40(3):326-30.

Abstract

Acute eosinophilic myocarditis is a rare cause of acute heart failure. We present the case of a 32-year-old woman who had presumptive eosinophilic myocarditis as part of a generalized hypersensitivity reaction (Drug Rash with Eosinophilia and Systemic Symptoms [DRESS] syndrome) that exhibited a dramatic response to steroid therapy. We highlight the central role of 2-dimensional and tissue-Doppler echocardiography in the diagnosis of myocarditis and the serial evaluation of left ventricular systolic and diastolic function in this setting.

Keywords: Cardiomyopathy, infiltrative; Doppler, pulsed; drug complications; echocardiography, two-dimensional, transthoracic; eosinophils; myocarditis.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Acute Disease
  • Adult
  • Diastole
  • Drug Hypersensitivity Syndrome / diagnostic imaging*
  • Drug Hypersensitivity Syndrome / drug therapy*
  • Drug Hypersensitivity Syndrome / physiopathology
  • Echocardiography, Doppler*
  • Echocardiography, Doppler, Color
  • Echocardiography, Doppler, Pulsed
  • Eosinophilia / diagnostic imaging*
  • Eosinophilia / drug therapy*
  • Eosinophilia / physiopathology
  • Female
  • Heart Failure / diagnostic imaging
  • Heart Failure / drug therapy
  • Heart Failure / physiopathology
  • Humans
  • Myocarditis / diagnostic imaging*
  • Myocarditis / drug therapy*
  • Myocarditis / physiopathology
  • Predictive Value of Tests
  • Recovery of Function
  • Steroids / therapeutic use*
  • Stroke Volume
  • Systole
  • Time Factors
  • Treatment Outcome
  • Ventricular Function, Left

Substances

  • Steroids