Foreword to special issue on 'myocarditis'

摘要

There are three phases to treatment: diagnosis, diagnosis and diagnosis William Osler W. (1892) Principles and practice of medicine William Osler, with a very actual sentence, stated, back in year 1892, in its Medicine textbook: “There are three phases to treatment: diagnosis, diagnosis and diagnosis” [1]. This sentence clearly highlights that the best clinical management is based upon the most accurate diagnosis. Historically myocarditis has being considered a rare and poorly understood condition, a conundrum with polymorphic clinical presentation and variable prognosis ranging from spontaneous resolution to progressive heart failure and death. The first comprehensive review with a modern approach to etiopathogenesis was published in 1980 by Woodroof JF, who highlighted the possible etiological role of Coxsackie viruses and of the immune system in the progression of cardiac damage, with possible evolution to a dilated cardiomyopathy [2].