PhD defence Maurits Antonius Sikking

Keywords: Heart failure, Dilated cardiomyopathy, Myocarditis, Immunotherapy

"Immune-mediated dilated cardiomyopathy: Next steps towards targeted immunotherapy"

Immune-mediated dilated cardiomyopathies (DCM) are heart muscle diseases in which immune processes lead to or contribute to the development, maintenance, or progression of heart muscle disease. This thesis examines the societal impact of these variants of DCM, studies new immunotherapies, and investigates which patients may benefit from these immunotherapies. We show that patients with immune-mediated DCM have a poorer quality of life and generate higher societal costs. This thesis cites several examples of immunotherapies that could be used in the near future or later for DCM, such as therapies against cytotoxic T cells or against interleukins 1, 6, or 17.

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