A Subtle Subacute Myocarditis in a Middle-aged Amateur Athlete

Abstract

Acute and subacute myocarditis represents the cause of sudden cardiac death in 5-25% of athletes. Making a diagnosis of myocarditis is always challenging due to its heterogeneous clinical presentation, especially in athletes with minimal and equivocal symptoms. The clinical onset of myocarditis can occur in many ways because patients may complain of different symptoms such as chest pain, or dyspnea from exercise, fatigue, heart failure or even imitate the signs of myocardial infarction. Athletes are different from sedentary individuals with respect to their perception of clinical symptoms which are often underestimated. Herewith the author describes a case of subacute myocarditis that was diagnosed in an asymptomatic athlete who underwent sports pre-participation screening.