Related Experiment Video

Updated: Aug 19, 2026

Noninvasive Assessment of Cardiac Abnormalities in Experimental Autoimmune Myocarditis by Magnetic Resonance Microscopy Imaging in the Mouse
12:24

Noninvasive Assessment of Cardiac Abnormalities in Experimental Autoimmune Myocarditis by Magnetic Resonance Microscopy Imaging in the Mouse

Published on: June 20, 2014

Clinical and Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging Findings in Pediatric Patients with Recurrent Viral Myocarditis

Danish Vaiyani1, Andrea L Jones2, Kevin K Whitehead2,3

  • 1Division of Cardiology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 3401 Civic Center Blvd, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA. Vaiyanid@chop.edu.

Pediatric Cardiology
|August 17, 2026
PubMed

Insights

Recurrence of myocarditis can occur in children, but initial cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging findings do not predict it. Further research is needed to identify predictors of pediatric myocarditis recurrence.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Cardiology
  • Cardiovascular Imaging
  • Myocarditis Research

Background:

  • Myocarditis recurrence can affect both children and adults months to years post-initial diagnosis.
  • Predictors for myocarditis recurrence in pediatric patients remain undescribed.
  • Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) is a key imaging modality for assessing myocarditis.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To describe CMR findings in pediatric patients with acute myocarditis.
  • To identify predictors of myocarditis recurrence in a pediatric cohort.
  • To compare CMR characteristics between children who recovered and those who experienced recurrence.

Main Methods:

  • Retrospective cohort study of patients under 21 years old with acute myocarditis.
  • CMR imaging performed within 14 days of initial presentation.
  • Statistical analysis using Mann-Whitney U test and Fisher's exact test to compare groups.

Main Results:

  • Of 85 pediatric patients, 72 recovered, 5 had recurrence, and 3 progressed to chronic dilated cardiomyopathy.
  • Patients with recurrence showed similar ventricular function, volume, strain, and T1/T2 mapping on CMR compared to recovered patients.
  • Median time to recurrence was 681 days post-initial presentation.

Conclusions:

  • Myocarditis recurrence occurs in a small subset of children.
  • Initial and follow-up CMR findings are similar in pediatric patients who recover versus those who experience recurrence.
  • Additional research is necessary to determine reliable predictors of myocarditis recurrence in children.

Keywords:
Magnetic resonance imagingMyocarditisOutcomesPediatric cardiologyRecurrence

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