A biomarker widely used to diagnose brain injury has shown early promise for assessing the severity of heart inflammation, or myocarditis, find researchers at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins, and the Mayo Clinic. The study is published online in the January issue of the Journal of Cardiovascular Translational Research. At present, there is no noninvasive method to confirm diagnosis of myocarditis, which can progress to heart failure and death. The current standard of biopsy is risky and often misses the disease. For this reason, there may be many people who aren’t aware they have the condition.