Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 2001, 195 (1)

A Case of Influenza Subtype A Virus-Induced Fulminant Myocarditis: An Experience of Percutaneous Cardio-Pulmonary Support (PCPS) Treatment and Immunohistochemical Analysis

MASAETSU MIURA, YASUHIDE ASAUMI, YUKO WADA, KAZUNORI OGATA, TATSUYUKI SATO, TOMOHIRO SUGAWARA, MITSUSHI YANO, MIKIO MITSUOKA, OSAMU TAKAI, KOZO OTA, KENJI NAMIKI,¹ DAIZO SATO,² EICHI SATO,³ HIROSHI NAGURA³ and TOKIHISA KIMURA

Departments of Internal Medicine, ¹Departments of Surgery, ²Departments of Anesthesiology, Furukawa City Hospital, Furukawa 989-6183, and
³Department of Pathology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai 980-8575

A 64-year-old man was admitted to the emergency center of Furukawa City Hospital because of common cold-like symptoms and hypotension. He was diagnosed as fulminant myocarditis with cardiogenic shock and arrhythmia elicited by influenza virus subtype A. Cardiac angiography, echocardiography and biopsy also showed myocarditis, and serum antibody titer to influenza virus subtype A was increased to 4-fold in paired serums. Treatments of both percutaneous cardio-pulmonary support (PCPS) and intra-aortic balloon pumping (IABP) were carried out to sustain the general circulation. PCPS treatment was discontinued on the 25th day of the admission, but IABP was continued. Finally, he died of multiple organ failure. The autopsy revealed myocardial necrosis with a slight fibrosis and a small amount of lymphocytic infiltration into the ventricular wall, which were compatible with restrictive myocarditis. Moreover, immunohistochemical analysis also showed the presence of viral antigens in cardiac myocytes. This case clearly showed that PCPS and IABP can be beneficial to sustain the general circulation in fulminant myocarditis, but cardiac pumping function failed completely to recover from myocardial damage.

Keywords —— fulminant myocarditis; cardiomyopathy; viral-infection; circulation; echocardiogram

© 2001 Tohoku University Medical Press

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Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 2001, 195, 11-19

Address for reprints: Masaetsu Miura, M.D., Department of Internal Medicine, Furukawa City Hospital, 2-3-10 Senjujicho, Furukawa 989-6183, Japan.

e-mail: kanri@city-hospital.furukawa.miyagi.jp