Inflammation—A Possible Link between Myocarditis and Arrhythmogenic Cardiomyopathy

Abstract

Arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy is a primary genetic disease caused by mutations in the desmosome genes. Ever since the introduction of new imaging techniques, like cardiovascular magnetic resonance, the diagnosis of arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy has become more challenging as left ventricular or biventricular variants may have resemblance to other cardiomyopathies or myocarditis. Not only this but they may also share an acute phase, which might cause even more confusion and misdiagnoses and influence the prognosis and outcome. In this case report, we present a 31-year-old patient with multiple clinical pictures: his symptoms were acute chest pain, new onset of heart failure and arrhythmia symptoms, which determined a dynamic change in clinical diagnosis and management, ultimately taking into consideration arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy. Through the article, we try to uncover and explain common pathophysiological pathways shared by arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy and other clinical entities with a special focus on inflammation. The final question remains: “If there is more than one heart disorder that eventually leads to the same clinical image, one may wonder, is arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy a syndrome rather than a specific condition?”.

Keywords

• inflammation
• myocarditis
• arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy
• cardiovascular magnetic resonance