Introduction: CRP has been shown to be a prognostic marker in lymphocytic myocarditis, the most common type of acute myocarditis. The correlation between its level and the extent of myocardial dysfunction has not tested before.
Methods: during January 2005 through June 2012 all patients admitted to our heart center with MRI proven acute myocarditis were included in a registry composing of 102 consecutive patients. We collected democratic, clinical, laboratory and echocardiographic data as well as in hospital complications and outcomes. We compared patients with significant LV dysfunction (LVEF ≤45%) to those with milder or no LV dysfunction.
Results – 17 (16%) patients were found to have significant LV dysfunction. There were no differences in
baseline characteristics, WBC counts or troponin levels between the groups. However, admission CRP levels were higher (p value 0.002) among patients with significant LV dysfunction. In a multivariate analysis (Table) only the CRP level was an independent predictor of significant LV dysfunction
Conclusion - CRP may accurately reflect the extent of myocardial involvement and offer a simple yet valuable tool to predict acute LV dysfunction in patients presenting with acute myocarditis.
