Published in:
01-03-2012 | Case Report
Use of cardiac MR imaging to evaluate the presence of myocarditis in autoimmune myositis: three cases
Published in: Rheumatology International | Issue 3/2012
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Cardiac involvement in patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (autoimmune myositis) is important to detect because it confers an increased risk of mortality. However, detection of myocardial involvement is hampered by a lack of sensitivity of traditional non-invasive methods, and the finding of elevated cardiac troponin T levels that may be due to regenerating skeletal muscle, rather than myocardial damage. Here, we describe three cases of inflammatory myositis with elevated troponin T levels, and non-specific echocardiographic and ECG findings. Cardiac MR imaging was useful in the evaluation for the presence of myocarditis or alternative cardiac pathology.