Myocarditis remains a significant and challenging diagnosis in pediatrics, and is one of the most common identifiable causes of dilated cardiomyopathy in children. Viral infections remain the most frequent underlying cause for pediatric myocarditis.
Intensive care outcomes appear to be improving. Despite the high acuity of their illnesses, 94% of children admitted to a cardiac intensive care unit with myocarditis survive to hospital discharge.
As noted in the Journal of Cardiac Failure, May 2023, “Transplant rates for children admitted with myocarditis have declined from 16% historically to 2.5% currently which is remarkable and perhaps a reflection of improving ICU medical care.
While each institution often has their own standards of care for treatments, future improvement efforts should focus on standardizing the diagnosis of myocarditis and the treatment options.
We are hoping that the various biomarkers (blood tests) that have been investigated in adult myocarditis, may be promising areas of future pediatric myocarditis research to pursue making it easier to diagnose this often difficult to diagnose disease in children.
Please click on the link below to read the full articles on Pediatric Myocarditis.
Care & Outcomes of Critically-ill Children With Diagnosed Myocarditis
