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Noninvasive Assessment of Cardiac Abnormalities in Experimental Autoimmune Myocarditis by Magnetic Resonance Microscopy Imaging in the Mouse
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[Inflammatory Heart Disease: The Role of Multimodality Cardiac Imaging in Myocarditis and Pericarditis]

Matthew Liam Wright1, Konstantinos Bitos1, Bettina Heidecker2,3,4

  • 1Department of Nuclear Medicine, Cardiac Imaging, University Hospital of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.

Therapeutische Umschau. Revue Therapeutique
|June 25, 2026
PubMed

Insights

Diagnosing myocardial inflammation is challenging. New European Society of Cardiology (ESC) guidelines emphasize multimodality cardiac imaging, including echocardiography, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR), and positron emission tomography (PET), for accurate assessment.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Medical Imaging
  • Inflammatory Diseases

Background:

  • Myocarditis and pericarditis are inflammatory heart conditions often presenting with non-specific symptoms.
  • Accurate diagnosis of myocardial inflammation is challenging due to vague clinical signs and biomarkers.
  • The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) introduced "inflammatory myocardial syndrome (IMPS)" in new guidelines, signifying a paradigm shift.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the practical application of multimodality cardiac imaging in diagnosing myocardial inflammation.
  • To emphasize clinically relevant decision-making in the work-up of inflammatory heart diseases.
  • To highlight the role of echocardiography, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR), and positron emission tomography (PET).

Main Methods:

  • Review of current European Society of Cardiology (ESC) guidelines.
  • Analysis of the role of echocardiography as a first-line tool.
  • Evaluation of cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) as the non-invasive gold standard.
  • Assessment of nuclear imaging techniques like positron emission tomography (PET) for specific conditions.

Main Results:

  • Multimodality cardiac imaging is central to evaluating myocardial inflammation.
  • Echocardiography is the initial diagnostic tool.
  • Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) offers superior tissue characterization.
  • Positron emission tomography (PET) is valuable for specific diagnoses like cardiac sarcoidosis.

Conclusions:

  • Multimodality imaging is crucial for diagnosing myocardial inflammation and inflammatory myocardial syndrome (IMPS).
  • The choice of imaging modality depends on clinical context and diagnostic goals.
  • These imaging techniques facilitate effective clinical decision-making in managing inflammatory heart conditions.
Abstract

Keywords:
Myocarditiscardiac imagingcardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR)pericarditispositron emission tomography (PET)­inflammatory myopericardial syndrome (IMPS)

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