FREE NEJM E-TOC    HOME   |   SUBSCRIBE   |   CURRENT ISSUE   |   PAST ISSUES   |   COLLECTIONS   |   Search Term  Advanced Search

Sign in | Get NEJM's E-Mail Table of Contents — Free | Subscribe

Previous Volume 353:97-98 July 7, 2005 Number 1 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

	Full Text PDF PDA Full Text Purchase this article Add to Personal Archive Add to Citation Manager Notify a Friend E-mail When Cited E-mail When Letters Appear Related Article by Leeper, N. J. PubMed Citation

To the Editor: In the report by Leeper et al. (April 7 issue),¹ the endomyocardial-biopsy specimen in their Figures 2 and 3 shows chronic changes, including extensive fibrosis, as stated by the authors, but it does not support a diagnosis of myocarditis.

The most widely accepted histologic criteria for the diagnosis of active myocarditis² require the presence of an inflammatory infiltrate and associated myocyte damage (Figure 1). Myocardial changes, including myocyte hypertrophy, degeneration, and varying degrees of myocardial fibrosis, are typical of a chronic process, such as idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy.³ The occasional presence of lymphocytes may be associated . . . [Full Text of this Article]

HOME  |  SUBSCRIBE  |  SEARCH  |  CURRENT ISSUE  |  PAST ISSUES  |  COLLECTIONS  |  PRIVACY  |  TERMS OF USE  |  HELP  |  beta.nejm.org Comments and questions? Please contact us. The New England Journal of Medicine is owned, published, and copyrighted © 2009 Massachusetts Medical Society. All rights reserved.