Two cases of acute fulminant myocarditis supported by extracorporeal membrane oxygenation / 대한내과학회지

ABSTRACT

Myocarditis is defined as inflammation of the myocardium caused by viral, richettsial, bacterial, or protozoal infection, or drug toxicity. The clinical course of patients with myocarditis varies from subclinical disease to fulminant myocarditis (FM). FM occurs rapidly and causes heart failure or lethal arrhythmia, often leading to death by cardiogenic shock due to severe left ventricular dysfunction. For some critical patients who have difficulty maintaining hemodynamic status, percutaneous cardiopulmonary support, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), and/or a mechanical ventricular assist device are available alternative choices. Here we report cases of patients with FM who were treated using ECMO during the acute stages of the illness.