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INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: Endomyocardial biopsy (EMB) is the only technique able to establish an etiological diagnosis of myocarditis or inflammatory cardiomyopathy (ICM). The aim of this study was to analyze the clinical profile, outcomes, and prognostic factors of patients with suspected myocarditis/ICM undergoing EMB. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical characteristics, histological findings, and follow-up data of all patients with suspected myocarditis or ICM who underwent EMB between 1997 and 2019 in a Spanish tertiary hospital. The diagnostic yield was compared using the Dallas criteria vs immunohistochemical criteria (IHC). RESULTS: A total of 99 patients underwent EMB (67% male; mean age, 42±15 years; mean left ventricular ejection fraction [LVEF], 34%±14%). Myocarditis or ICM was confirmed in 28% with application of the Dallas criteria and in 54% with the IHC criteria (P <.01). Lymphocytic myocarditis was diagnosed in 47 patients, eosinophilic myocarditis in 6, sarcoidosis in 3, and giant cell myocarditis in 1 patient. After a median follow-up of 18 months, 23 patients (23%) required heart transplant (HTx), a left ventricular assist device (LVAD), and/or died. Among the patients with IHC-confirmed myocarditis, 21% required HTx/LVAD or died vs 7% of those without inflammation (P=.056). The factors associated with a worse prognosis were baseline LVEF ≤ 30%, left ventricular end-diastolic diameter ≥ 60mm, and NYHA III-IV, especially in the presence of inflammation. CONCLUSIONS: EMB allows an etiological diagnosis in more than half of patients with suspected myocarditis/ICM when IHC techniques are used. IHC-confirmed inflammation adds prognostic value and helps to identify patients with a higher probability of developing complications.
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Chronic silicosis is an entity widely described in literature. However, other types such as accelerated, acute, complicated and extrapulmonary silicosis are little documented. We present a case of accelerated extrapulmonary silicosis in a lung transplant patient in whom the diagnosis of systemic silicosis was made incidental to non-respiratory complications that occurred during follow-up. The appearance of cytopenia and liver failure led to diagnostic tests that documented the presence of silicotic granulomas in those locations. Taking into account the intensity, time of exposure, onset and development of the disease, we found a highly atypical case of accelerated extrapulmonary silicosis in which inorganic particles (presumably silica) were documented inside granulomas and macrophages of the bone marrow. With these findings, we reflect on the lack of consideration of these entities within clinical practice, their probable under diagnosis and the need to study other pathophysiological mechanisms of acquisition and dissemination of silicosis.
