Tomáš Paleček, Petr Kuchynka, Martin Mašek, Michal Fikrle, Jana Podzimková, Aleš Linhart
In recent years, cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) has become a major imaging modality used for non-invasive diagnosis
of myocarditis. The CMR diagnosis of acute myocarditis is currently based on the Lake Louise Criteria that primarily
reflect the presence of tissue characteristics in myocardial inflammation – myocardial edema, hyperemia and
non-ischemic necrosis, eventually fibrosis. Due to high diagnostic accuracy all patients with clinical suspicion of acute
myocarditis should undergo a CMR examination as soon as possible. However, CMR is not able to provide exact etiological
specification of myocardial inflammation, therefore endomyocardial biopsy still remains the golden standard
for diagnosis of myocarditis, especially in patients presenting with heart failure or ventricular arrhythmias.