A physical examination is performed by a physician immediately after when a patient arrives at the doctor´s office. It could have different results at myocarditis. It is not unusual that the results are normal or atypical. Sometimes myocarditis can present as a common viral disease….
n electrocardiograph is a device used for detecting changes of electrical potential (“electrical activity”) caused by heart activity. During myocarditis, there are a lot of different changes on the ECG curve. None of them is completely typical for myocarditis. ECG findings of patients with myocarditis are highly variable. Sometimes, physicians observe ECG curves changes, which are also observed during heart attack or pericarditis…
X-ray is maybe the oldest and best known imaging method in medicine. The essence of this examination is based on the fact that a certain part of patient´s body is “lit up” by X-ray. X-ray is absorbed less by tender tissues (like for example the lungs) than “tough” tissues (like bones). An X-ray is captured on an X-ray picture…
ECHO is, together with ECG, one of the basic examinations in cardiology. The characteristics of ultrasound (sound of very high frequency over 20 000 Hz, which is not detected by human ears) are used in this method. During an ECHO examination, the ultrasound is transmitted by a probe, which is pressed against the chest. The ultrasound reflects off each heart structure. These reflections are transmitted back to the probe and then converted by a computer into a picture. Thanks to that, medical experts are able to consider and measure the size and thickness of individual parts of the heart and their function. Thanks to so called Doppler effect, they can even measure the speed of blood flow in different part of the human heart…
This is an imaging method, which uses magnetic characteristics of an atom´s nucleus, specifically protons (positively charged parts of the atom´s nucleus). This principle is used also in cardiac magnetic resonance. It is a highly accurate method which is used in the diagnosis of myocarditis more and more. Myocarditis can be confirmed by this method with a degree of high accuracy and certainity. CMRI also enables different types of heart projection, using different machine settings (so called sequences).
Lab testing is in the case of myocarditis focused on discovering markers of heart muscle damage and ithe ntensity of any inflammatory processes. Laboratory results along with imaging methods provides valuable information for determining the patient´s state and suitable treatment…
Endomyocardial biopsy is an examination, when “tongs” are inserted into the patient´s heart through the vessel system. They are inserted into the right or left heart ventricle and then four or five very little pieces of heart tissue are collected. The samples are sent for analysis. This is so called invasive examination, when medical experts intervene into patient’s body, however with a lfew recorded complications (approximately 1 %). This method is not a standard examination method in the diagnosis of myocarditis. Medical experts indicate it just in some cases and according to the decision of doctors. A disadvantage of biopsy is that it can result in a “healthy” piece of heart tissue being taken, because it is a “blind” examination. Other indication is, when experts have a suspicious on certain types of myocarditis, when a patient´s state of health requires immunosuppressive therapy…
Scintigraphy is an isotope examination which can show the function of a certain organ. The principle is that a radioactive drug is administered to a patient, then scans are taken and according to the accumulation of the radioactive drug in certain organs its function may be measured… Catheterization is used very often at myocarditis, mostly in adult patients. It serves more to exclude other possible causes of the patient´s problems, such as heart attack, rather than to diagnose myocarditis…