Clinical analysis of continuous blood purification for the treatment of children with fulminant myocarditis

In this study, we aimed to investigate the clinical value of continuous blood purification (CBP) for the treatment of children with fulminant myocarditis (FM). Forty-seven children with FM were recruited from the Department of Pediatric Intensive Care Unit of our hospital from November 2011 to April 2015, and were divided into an intervention group (children who underwent CBP) and a control group (children with no intervention). The following data were compared: sex; age; clinical outcomes; vital signs; and results of electrocardiogram (ECG), chest radiography, echocardiogram, and laboratory examinations. The differences in age and sex between the two groups were not statistically significant (P>0.05). The mortality of the intervention group (16.13%) was lower than that of the control group (43.75%), and the length of stay of the intervention group was shorter than that of the control group (P<0.01). After the treatment, the heart rate and blood pressure of the children in both groups improved to varying degrees. Abnormalities on ECG showed improvement, the cardio-thoracic ratio decreased, and impaired ejection fraction was restored. The laboratory examination results were all improved. The myocardial enzyme pattern and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) improved after 72 h in the control group and after 48 h in the intervention group. The levels of myoglobin, MB isoenzyme of creatine kinase, NT-proBNP, and lactic acid all significantly improved in the intervention group (P<0.01). We conclude that CBP could improve the outcomes in children with FM.