Ventricular Arrhythmias in Myocarditis: Characterization and Relationships With Myocardial Inflammation

Ventricular arrhythmias (VAs) have never been systematically investigated in patients with myocarditis at different stages. The purpose of this study was to compare baseline and follow-up characteristics of VAs in patients with active myocarditis (AM) versus previous myocarditis (PM). A total of 185 consecutive patients (69% males, age 44 ± 15 years, left ventricular ejection fraction 49 ± 14%) with myocarditis and VA at index hospitalization, including ventricular fibrillation, ventricular tachycardia (VT), nonsustained ventricular tachycardia (NSVT), and Lown's grade ≥2 premature ventricular complexes, were enrolled. AM and PM groups were defined based on endomyocardial biopsy and cardiac magnetic resonance findings. A subset of patients (n = 46, 25%) also underwent electroanatomic mapping and VA transcatheter ablation. At presentation, AM patients (n = 123, 66%) more commonly had ventricular fibrillation (8 cases vs. 0 cases; p = 0.053), and both irregular (61% vs. 11%; p