Ventricular Tachycardia Uncovers a Giant Problem: Case Report on Giant Cell Myocarditis

Case Report

Volume 4, Issue 6 (June Issue)

Ventricular Tachycardia Uncovers a Giant Problem: Case Report on Giant Cell Myocarditis

Samantha Curtis¹, Hirak Shah⁴, Joseph B. Lerman², Matthew Carlisle², Karen Flores², Carolyn Glass³, Chetan B. Patel² and Nishant P. Shah^2*

¹Department of Internal Medicine-Pediatrics, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC

²Division of Cardiology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham NC

³Department of Pathology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC

⁴Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Kansas School of Medicine, Kansas City, KS

^*Corresponding author: Nishant P. Shah, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, 2301 Erwin Rd, Durham NC. E-mail: Nishant.shah@duke.edu

Received: May 29, 2022; Accepted: June 08, 2022; Published: June 24, 2022

Citation: Curtis S, Shah H, Shah NP, et al. Ventricular Tachycardia Uncovers a Giant Problem: Case Report on Giant Cell Myocarditis. Clin Image Case Rep J. 2022; 4(6): 242.

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Ventricular Tachycardia Uncovers a Giant Problem: Case Report on Giant Cell Myocarditis

Abstract

A 52-year-old male presented with ventricular tachycardia storm and acute decompensated heart failure. Echocardiography showed severe left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and global hypokinesis. Given the progressive clinical deterioration despite mechanical support, a bedside endomyocardial biopsy was performed and showed giant-cell myocarditis (GCM). He was acutely treated with rabbit anti-thymocyte globulin (rATG) in addition to high dose glucocorticoids with rapid recovery of cardiac function and conduction. Our case illustrates the importance of early endomyocardial biopsy in the setting of rapid clinical deterioration when inflammatory or infiltrative disease are suspected and supports the use of rATG in the treatment regimen for GCM.

Keywords: Giant cell myocarditis; Rabbit anti-thymocyte globulin; Ventricular tachycardia; Endomyocardial biopsy