Abstract
The patient was a 27-year-old woman who had pain in her posterior cervical region. After experiencing flu-like symptoms, shortness of breath, and a gradual worsening and persistent pain, she visited a primary care physician. With no improvement, she visited our Division of Neurosurgery and Neurology. The neurological findings were normal; however, she had difficulty flexing and rotating her neck because of pain. Computed tomography (CT) and blood testing were conducted, but no diagnosis was reached, so outpatient care was planned. However, the patient experienced cardiopulmonary arrest the following day. CPR was performed, but the patient died. The cause of death could not be identified by autopsy imaging CT; therefore, a pathalogical autopsy was performed. Enlargement of both ventricles and atria was evident, with histological images revealing extensive degeneration and necrosis of the myocardial cells and infiltration of the inflammatory cells, compatible with lymphocytic myocarditis. Acute myocarditis related to viral infection was diagnosed. As no other cause was found, we consider
the neck pain in this case to have been associated with myocarditis. Acute myocarditis should be considered as a rare cause of the symptoms of patients complaining of neck pain.
