Update on Myocarditis in the Forensic Setting

Myocarditis is an inflammation of the cardiac muscle. This is usually characterised by infiltration of lymphocytes in the myocardium sometimes associated with myocyte necrosis. Criteria for clinical diagnosis is often inconsistent and not suitable for determining myocarditis as the cause of death in the forensic setting. Inflammation in the heart may be an incidental finding and is commonly seen at postmortem. This presentation will examine the diagnosis of myocarditis in the forensic setting and touch on new proposed criteria for diagnosis.