Abstract
The inflammation of the heart muscles, such as myocarditis, the membrane sac which surrounds the heart called as pericarditis, and the inner lining of the heart or the myocardium, heart muscle as endocarditis are known as the inflammatory heart diseases. Inflammation of heart is caused by known infectious agents, viruses, bacteria, fungi or parasites, and by toxic materials from the environment, water, food, air, toxic gases, smoke, and pollution, or by an unknown origin. Myocarditis is induced by infection of heart muscle by virus like sarcoidosis and immune diseases. The symptoms include chest pain, angina, pain in heart muscle, and shortness of breath, edema, swelling of feet or ankles, and fatigue. The ECG, X-ray, and MRI can diagnose the disease; blood test and rise in enzymes levels provide abnormality in heart function. The treatment includes use of antibiotics for inflammation of heart muscle and medications. The ultrasound imaging indicates further damage to the heart muscle. In severe cases of infection heart failure can occur so long-term medications are necessary to control inflammation. The various biomarkers are reported for the inflammatory heart diseases. The causes, symptoms and treatments of inflammatory heart diseases are described.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Types of Inflammatory Heart Disease. (2014). Myocarditis, pericarditis and endocarditis. Retrieved from http://www.inflammatoryheartdisease.org/.
Pearson, T. A., Mensah, G. A., Alexander, R. W., Anderson, J. L., Cannon, I. I. I., Criqui, M., et al. (2003). Markers of inflammation and cardiovascular disease. Application to clinical and public health practice: A statement for healthcare professionals from the centers for disease control and prevention and the American Heart Association. Circulation, 107, 499–511.
Grundy, S. M., Bazzarre, T., Cleeman, J., et al. (2000). Prevention Conference V: Beyond secondary prevention: Identifying the high risk patient for primary prevention: Medical office assessment. Circulation, 101, e3–e11.
NCEP. (2001). Expert panel on detection, evaluation, and treatment of high blood cholesterol in adults. Executive summary of the third report of the national cholesterol education program (NCEP) expert panel on detection, evaluation, and treatment of high blood cholesterol in adults (Adult Treatment Panel III). Journal of the American Medical Association, 285: 2486–2497.
Tracy, R. P. (1998). Inflammation in cardiovascular disease. Circulation, 97, 2000–2002.
Ross, R. (1999). Atherosclerosis: An inflammatory disease. New England Journal of Medicine, 340, 115–126.
Libby, P., & Ridker, P. M. (1999). Novel inflammatory markers of coronary risk. Circulation, 100, 1148–1150.
Plutzky, J. (2001). Inflammatory pathways in atherosclerosis and acute coronary syndromes. American Journal of Cardiology, 88, 10K–15K.
Mosca, L. (2002). C-reactive protein: To screen or not to screen? New England Journal of Medicine, 347, 1615–1617.
Kannel, W. B., Wolf, P. A., Castelli, W. P., et al. (1987). Fibrinogen and risk of cardiovascular disease: The Framingham Study. Journal of the American Medical Association, 258, 1183–1186.
Yarnell, J. W., Baker, I. A., Sweetnam, P. M., et al. (1991). Fibrinogen, viscosity, and white blood cell count are major risk factors for ischemic heart disease: The Caerphilly and Speedwell collaborative heart disease studies. Circulation, 83, 836–844.
Koenig, W., Sund, M., Frohlich, M., et al. (1999). C-reactive protein, a sensitive marker of inflammation, predicts future risk of coronary heart disease in initially healthy middle-aged men: Results from the MONICA (monitoring trends and determinants in cardio-vascular disease) Augsburg Cohort Study, 1984 to 1992. Circulation, 99, 237–242.
Ridker, P. M., Rifai, N., Rose, L., et al. (2002). Comparison of C-reactive protein and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels in the prediction of first cardiovascular events. New England Journal of Medicine, 347, 1557–1565.
Sakkinen, P., Abbott, R. D., Curb, J. D., et al. (2002). C-reactive protein and myocardial infarction. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 55, 445–451.
Danesh, J., Collins, R., Appleby, P., et al. (1998). Association of fibrinogen, C-reactive protein, albumin, or leukocyte count with coronary heart disease: Meta-analyses of prospective studies. Journal of the American Medical Association, 279, 1477–1482.
Danesh, J., Whincup, P., Walker, M., et al. (2000). Low grade inflammation and coronary heart disease: Prospective study and updated meta-analyses. British Medical Journal, 321, 199–204.
Imanaka-Yoshida, K., Hiroe, M., Yasutomi, Y., Toyozaki, T., Tsuchiya, T., Noda, N., et al. (2002). Tenascin-C is a useful marker for disease activity in myocarditis. Journal of Pathology, 197(3), 388–394.
Bainey, K. R., & Bhatt, D. L. (2009). Acute pericarditis: Appendicitis of the heart? Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 84(1), 5–6.
Vollmer, T., Piper, C., Kleesiek, K., & Dreier, J. (2009). Lipopolysaccharide-binding protein: a new biomarker for infectious endocarditis? Clinical Chemistry, 55(2), 295–304. doi:10.1373/clinchem.200895.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Lei Lu and RongRong Sun have contributed equally to this work.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lu, L., Sun, R., Liu, M. et al. The Inflammatory Heart Diseases: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatments. Cell Biochem Biophys 72, 851–855 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12013-015-0550-7
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12013-015-0550-7