
Bernadette Alexis M. Marino
Philippine General Hospital, PhilippinesPresentation Title:
Myocarditis-related Heart Failure from Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis secondary to newly diagnosed Classic Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
Abstract
This is a case of a 32 year-old female who presented with recurring fever, associated joint pains, diffuse lymphadenopathy, and severe heart failure symptoms. She was diagnosed with myocarditis from Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) which is a disease entity marked by multi-organ damage due to immune dysregulation from abundance of cytokine release. Few reports have been made with regards to cardiac affectation which most commonly presents as rhythm disturbances and myocardial dysfunction. Literature so far has shown poor prognosis of patients with cardiac involvement. The acute inflammatory state was rapidly addressed with high dose steroid infusion followed by guideline-directed medical therapy of heart failure. Once the underlying cause was found to be Classic Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, decision was made by the multi-disciplinary team to proceed with definitive chemotherapy despite high risk for further cardiotoxicity. After initiation of chemotherapy and optimization of guideline medical therapy, she had improved heart failure symptoms. Her dyspnea which occurred at rest improved to less than ordinary activities, with resolution of orthopnea, and physical signs of heart failure. 11 days after her first cycle of chemotherapy and due to being in a resource-limited setting, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging was done which showed confirmation of myocarditis with late gadolinium enhancement in the left ventricular basal to mid inferolateral segments and right ventricle with improvement of EF to 73% with resolution of the prior noted wall motion abnormalities. This case illustrated that a five-month history of myocarditis symptoms can present with clinical improvement and reversible structural changes within two months of immunosuppression, heart failure guideline directed medical therapy, and initiation of definitive treatment of underlying disease.
Biography
Bernadette Alexis M. Marino completed her college, medical education, and residency training in the University of the Philippines. She is currently a second year fellow in training in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at the Philippine General Hospital. She has showcased research work locally and internationally, including in the European Society of Cardiology.