Lymphocytic Perimyocarditis Masquerading as Steroid-Dependent Recurrent Pericarditis

Eunice S Dugan; Muhammad Majid; Tahir S Kafil; Bahaa Abdelghaffar; Zachary S Yaker; Ashwin Kumar; Ziad Taimeh; Carmela Tan; Paul C Cremer; Allan L Klein

doi:10.1016/j.jaccas.2023.101960

Lymphocytic Perimyocarditis Masquerading as Steroid-Dependent Recurrent Pericarditis

JACC Case Rep. 2023 Aug 5:21:101960. doi: 10.1016/j.jaccas.2023.101960. eCollection 2023 Sep 6.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Center for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Pericardial Diseases, Section of Cardiovascular Imaging, Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Heart, Vascular and Thoracic Institute, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
² Department of Internal Medicine, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
³ Department of Internal Medicine, MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, Washington, DC, USA.
⁴ Department of Pathology, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.

Abstract

Lymphocytic myocarditis is a pattern of myocardial inflammation typically associated with viral, autoimmune, or idiopathic causes. We present a case of lymphocytic perimyocarditis masquerading as steroid-dependent recurrent pericarditis. This case shows the advantages of using multimodal cardiac imaging and endomyocardial biopsy in clarifying diagnosis in treatment-resistant cases. (Level of Difficulty: Advanced.).

Keywords: chest pain; endomyocardial biopsy; fluorodeoxyglucose; heart failure; lymphocytic myocarditis; perimyocarditis.

Publication types

Case Reports