Giant cell myocarditis (GCM) is an infrequent, but often fatal form of acute myocarditis that has been shown to respond to cyclosporine-based immunosuppressive therapy
Even after heart transplantation GCM recurrence in the donor heart has been cited as high as 20% to 25%
Patients are surviving longer without transplantation because of efficacious medical therapy
A multi-institutional prospective data set revealed several novel findings in GCM:
· Long-term immunosuppression appears capable of lengthening transplantation-free survival ~19 years beyond initial diagnosis
· Cessation and/or reduction of immunosuppression are associated with GCM recurrence
· Patients who developed cyclosporine associate renal failure were able to be switched to a sirolimus-based regimen
References
Maleszewski J, Orellana V, et al. Long-Term Risk of Recurrence, Morbidity and Mortality in Giant Cell Myocarditis. Am J Cardiol 2015;115:1733e1738
