A number of autoimmune and immune disorders may cause a myocarditis.
Autoimmune diseases and/or vasculitis:
(1) systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)
(2) Wegener's
(3) rheumatoid arthritis (RA)
(4) Churg-Strauss syndrome
(5) Kawasaki's disease
(6) inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)
(7) scleroderma
(8) polymyositis
(9) myasthenia gravis
(10) rheumatic fever
(11) sarcoidosis
Autoimmune diseases primarily targeting other organs:
(1) type 1 diabetes
(2) thyrotoxicosis
Other:
(1) serum sickness
(2) heart transplant rejection
(3) allergic, include drug allergy
Additional reasons to suspect an immune mechanism:
(1) presence of anti-heart antibodies (in serum, by immunofluorescence)
(2) lymphocytic or giant cell myocarditis negative for infectious agents
Table 2 lists over 20 autoantibodies that may target the heart.
