Biopsy of the heart muscle | How is heart muscle inflammation diagnosed?

Biopsy of the heart muscle

In case of severe myocardial inflammation or the need to detect viruses in the heart muscle, a biopsy (tissue removal) of the heart muscle, also called myocardial biopsy, is performed. This procedure is performed in the cardiac catheterization laboratory. In order to take a sample from the heart muscle, the doctor must advance the biopsy forceps through a jugular vein or via a vessel in the groin up to the heart.

No general anesthesia is necessary, only the puncture site is locally anesthetized. The inner walls of the vessels and the inside of the heart are not sensitive to pain, so the collection of the sample is not painful. After the procedure, the sample material obtained is examined under the microscope and in the laboratory. The biopsy is performed on several sites of the heart muscle, thus obtaining a representative picture of the heart muscle.

Summary

The diagnosis of myocarditis requires various examinations. Often the changes detected are uncharacteristic and only form a picture after several examinations. The manifold symptoms of myocarditis sometimes make the diagnosis a complex undertaking. Especially the medical history and the results of the physical examination often cannot lead to a reliable diagnosis at first, but they are nevertheless very important, since further diagnostics will be initiated in case of corresponding pathological findings and the disease can thus be detected.