RESEARCH ARTICLE Effects of carvedilol treatm

Full list of author information is available at the end of the articleBackground Viral myocarditis is a frequent cause of cardiac failure, es-pecially in young adults [1]. Acute inflammation of the heart appears to be a major cause of sudden, unexpected death in persons younger than 40 years old [2] and often follows viral infection [3]. Enteroviruses, particularly the coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3), have been identified as the predominant cause of viral myocarditis in both animal models and humans [4]. Despite the well-characterized molecular structure of coxsackieviruses [5] and the suc-cessful use of common [6] or novel immunization proce-dures [7-9] in animal models, immune suppression trials [10] to reverse underlying active myocardial inflammation have been largely disappointing, and no specific treatment for viral myocarditis are in clinical use today. Therefore, elucidation of the fundamental mechanisms involved in the development of myocarditis, and the progression from * Correspondence