Viral myocarditis

For a lay person:

Viral myocarditis is inflammation of the heart muscle caused by a viral infection. It often follows a cold, flu or stomach virus and can affect young, healthy people. It ranges from mild and self-resolving to severe, with heart failure or dangerous heart rhythms.

For a trained medical person:

Viral infection (enteroviruses, parvovirus B19, HHV-6, adenovirus, influenza, SARS-CoV-2) causes myocyte injury and immune-mediated inflammation. Diagnosis is suggested by troponin elevation and ECG changes, confirmed by cardiac MRI, and endomyocardial biopsy in severe or unexplained cases. Management is supportive with heart-failure and arrhythmia treatment, avoidance of strenuous exercise for several months, and mechanical circulatory support for fulminant cases.

In Chinese medicine:

Liu and Tseng's textbook differentiates this condition into these patterns: Wind-Heat Attacking Lung, Heat-Toxins Attacking Heart; Damp-Heat Obstructing the Middle Jiao, Internal Damage of Heart Ying; Residual Heat, Damaged Heat Yin; Heart Yang Deficient Collapse; Both Qi and Yin Deficiency; Yin Deficiency with Deficient Fire; Heart and Spleen Qi Deficiency; Heart and Spleen Yang Deficiency; Heart and Kidney Yang Deficiency. Treatment follows the pattern a patient presents with, not the Western diagnosis alone.

When to get help: Get emergency care for chest pain, fainting, a racing or irregular heartbeat, or worsening breathlessness, especially after a viral illness. Avoid hard exercise until cleared by a cardiologist, and check herbs with your doctor as some affect heart rhythm.