Predictors of disease course in patients with acute myocarditis.

BACKGROUND: Clinical manifestations of acute myocarditis, with distinct onset, vary from asymptomatic to fatal. The predictors of the course of the disease in patients with acute myocarditis at initial presentation have not yet been established. In this study, we examined the predictive values of various parameters in the disease course of patients with myocarditis.

METHODS AND RESULTS: Twenty-one consecutive patients who had been diagnosed as having acute myocarditis by histological examinations were analyzed. The patients with myocarditis were divided into the survival group (n=13) and the fatal group (n=8). We examined the parameters of the clinical state, hemodynamic variables, required therapies, biochemical laboratory data, and cytokines. The control groups were composed of 23 patients with old myocardial infarction and 20 healthy volunteers. The fatal group had lower blood pressure and higher pulmonary capillary wedge pressure compared with those values in the survival group. Mechanical ventilation support was more frequently required in the fatal group. Serum levels of soluble Fas (sFas) and soluble Fas ligand (sFasL) were significantly higher in the myocarditis group than in the 2 control groups. Furthermore, levels were significantly higher in the fatal group than in the survival group for sFas (13.93+/-4.77 versus 3.77+/-0.52 ng/mL, respectively; P:<0.001) and sFasL (611.4+/-127.7 versus 269.5+/-37.3 pg/mL, respectively; P:<0.05). Other clinical states, hemodynamic variables, required therapies, and biochemical laboratory parameters were not different between the 2 groups.

CONCLUSIONS: Elevation of sFas and sFasL levels at initial presentation appear to be a good serological marker to predict the prognosis of acute myocarditis.