Med Klin
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This review may serve as a basis for evaluating publications on the topic "myocardial biopsy for myocarditis and dilated cardiomyopathy" in the clinical practice. The literature is particularly analyzed to answer the question, whether an endomyocardial catheter biopsy is indicated in patients with these myocardial disorders in the clinical routine besides its unequivocal scientific value. The judgment of the biopsy samples has been based on the classically histological and for years on the additional immunohistochemical and molecular biological-virological examination. ⋯ It is missleading to replace the well-established clinical diagnosis myocarditis by the bioptic diagnosis "inflammatory cardiomyopathy". However, endomyocardial catheter biopsy is clearly indicated in rare patients with fulminant myocarditis, giant-cell myocarditis and myocardial storage disease. Its probably underestimated role in sarcoid heart disease still needs to be clarified by systematic studies.