Overview
Introduction
A patient with giant cell myocarditis can move from new heart failure to cardiogenic shock, ventricular tachycardia, or complete heart block in days.
A patient with giant cell myocarditis can move from new heart failure to cardiogenic shock, ventricular tachycardia, or complete heart block in days. The combination of a failing pump and electrical instability is the clinical pattern that should make the nurse think beyond uncomplicated viral myocarditis. This is a time-critical inflammatory cardiomyopathy. Stabilization, urgent referral to an advanced cardiac centre, definitive tissue diagnosis, and disease-directed immunosuppression must proceed together rather than as separate stages.