The morphology and function of the cardiac chambers have been evaluated clinically using cineventriculography, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and endomyocardial biopsy. Excluding the invasive technique of biopsy where tissue is actually removed, these other non-invasive techniques reveal only indirect evidence of endocardial and subendocardial pathology and, therefore, allow the potential for misdiagnosis from insufficient data. Fiberoptic examinations, as recently demonstrated in coronary, pulmonary, and peripheral vessels, allow direct observation of pathology otherwise unobtainable. Recently, similar techniques have been applied to examine the cardiac chambers of dogs and the right heart of humans. In this study, we examine the feasibility and safety of percutaneous fiberoptic cardioscopy of the left ventricle in patients with myocarditis.
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