A patient with cysticercosis may rarely develop a myocarditis. Most patients are asymptomatic and cardiac involvement is only recognized as an incidental finding.
The number of cysticerci may range from 1 to many and these may be found in all heart layers.
The level of inflammation is usually very low unless there is some trigger such as activation of a host response or degeneration of a cyst.
The most common manifestation involved changes in the ECG:
(1) conduction abnormalities
(2) cardiac arrhythmias
Other findings may include:
(1) variable eosinophilia
(2) detection of cysticerci on echocardiography or MRI
A patient with cysticercal myocarditis should be evaluated for neurocysticercosis if not done already.
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