This can involve the use of inotropes, or medications that make the heart contract with greater force, as well as antiarrhythmic drugs such as adenosine or carvedilol. In patients that have stable and adequate heart function, further treatments are based on heart failure guidelines. ACE inhibitors can have a protective benefit to the heart, so they are typically used in any patient with symptomatic myocarditis. Simultaneously, beta blockers are used in patients that can tolerate their heart beating at a slower rate. Shortness of breath at rest and swelling can be relieved with diuretics such as furosemide, and the addition of aldosterone receptor blockers can augment the diuresis while preventing the excess loss of potassium. In patients with symptoms while resting, additional medications can be added such as digoxin. Mechanical support
Mechanical support is used in cases of myocarditis in which medications alone do not lead to adequate heart function and the body requires additional support to achieve organ perfusion. Myocarditis cases that require mechanical circulatory support are categorized as fulminant by definition. People that require additional support with their heart function can benefit from the use of ventricular assist devices like intra-aortic balloon pumps. In people with myocarditis severe enough to cause cardiac arrest, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is used to adequately pump blood and provide oxygen if needed. Both ventricular assist devices and ECMO can be used as bridge therapy until heart transplantation in patients that are candidates. Heart transplantation is reserved for those that do not respond to the aforementioned conventional medical therapies.
References
External links

GeneReviews/NCBI/NIH/UW entry on Familial Exudative Vitreoretinopathy, Autosomal Dominant
NCBI Genetic Testing Registry