Abstract
Inflammatory cardiomyopathy is a term used for myocarditis associated with left ventricular dysfunction. There are many infectious and non-infectious causes of this disease with viral infection being the most common.
In order to definitely establish the diagnosis of inflammatory cardiomyopathy, endomyocardial biopsy (EMB) has to be performed. To obtain appropriate diagnostic information, detailed assessment of EMB including histopathological, immunohistochemical and microbiological evaluation should be performed.
The results of EMB specimens processed in such a manner may consequently have an impact on the therapeutic strategy in inflammatory cardiomyopathy, when immunosuppressive, antimicrobial or immunomodulatory treatment may be added to conventional therapy.