Eosinophilic Myocarditis Presenting as Cardiac Tamponade: A Diagnostic Challenge

Authors

• Kristine Vo Department of Medicine, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
• Yoshito Nishimura Department of Medicine, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
• Jennifer Yokoyama Department of Medicine, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
• Amanda Wasko Department of Medicine, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
• Taryn Miyake Department of Medicine, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
• Kimberly Vu Queen's Heart Institute, The Queen's Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
• James Zhang Queen's Heart Institute, The Queen's Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
• Jesus Pino Moreno Queen's Heart Institute, The Queen's Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
• Dipanjan Banerjee Queen's Heart Institute, The Queen's Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
• Lisa Kim Hawaii Pathologists’ Laboratory, The Queen's Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
• Christina Chong Department of Medicine, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

yoshiton@hawaii.edu

Abstract

Eosinophilic myocarditis (EM) is a rare cause of acute heart failure. It can occur secondary to drug hypersensitivity, autoimmune diseases such as vasculitis, idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome (HES) or malignancy, but is often under-recognized and underdiagnosed, being confused with other causes of heart failure. While EM is associated with various clinical symptoms, it is rarely associated with cardiac tamponade that requires urgent pericardiocentesis. Here we describe a patient with EM who presented with cardiac tamponade and decompensated heart failure likely secondary to autoimmune disease.

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