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Successful treatment of severe heart failure caused by idiopathic giant cell myocarditis

V Desjardins1, G Pelletier, T K Leung

  • 1Department of Medicine, Montreal Heart Institute, Quebec.

A 53-year-old woman presented with increasing dyspnea over one month and signs of severe heart failure. A right ventricular biopsy revealed giant cell myocarditis. She was treated with a combination of cyclosporine, imuran and prednisone and improved dramatically--left ventricular ejection fraction increased from 13 to 66%. That such a response is possible has important implications with respect to both the etiology and treatment of this rare disorder.

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