My fiance died of myocarditis (he was only 21). Is there a difference between this and a heart attack? If so, what is it?

Myocarditis is a completely different disease than a heart attack.

Myocarditis develops in people who have previously had the flu or other viral infection. It quite often affects those trying to "have" the flu. With the development of inflammation in the heart muscle, serious arrhythmias and severe circulatory failure develop, which may be the cause of death.

Myocarditis covers the entire muscle, while an infarction is a necrosis of a part of the heart muscle due to closure of the lumen of a blood vessel by an atherosclerotic plaque or a thrombus. These structures are formed in the lumen of the vessel in people with high cholesterol, hypertension, and smokers.

So, these conditions differ in terms of what causes them and the extent of the disease process.

Please accept my sincere sympathy for the loss of your Fiancée. Thank you for writing to me in these difficult moments.

Check also:

  • Common complications after the flu

Remember that our expert's answer is informative and will not replace a visit to the doctor.

Krystyna Knypl

Internist, hypertensiologist, editor-in-chief of "Gazeta dla Lekarzy".

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Category:

Cardiology