Following its tradition of promoting novel areas of scienti?c discourse, the Ernst Schering Research Foundation (ESRF) hosted this workshop on chronic viral and in?ammatory cardiomyopathy. In late October 2004, scientists from Canada, Germany, the Georgian Republic, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Israel, Sweden, and the United States ga- ered in Berlin to discuss their concepts, hypotheses, and latest ?ndings on myocarditis and cardiomyopathy. This expert meeting was held in cooperation with the German - search Foundation, which in the same year had supported transregional collaborative research activities entitled "In?ammatory Cardiomyo- thy - Molecular Pathogenesis and Therapy." Organizing the workshop, our efforts strove to render tighter the network between the distinct disciplines involved in cardiomyopathy - search, building bridges between its molecular, pathogenetic, diagnostic, and therapeutic determinants. It all began as a story of a neighborhood, and we would like to express our hope that this long-term project, which will require much and - tensive cooperative work among the participants, will evolve to become a story of a good neighborhood.

An involvement of the immune system is suspected in various cardiovascular diseases. Recent advances in the fields of molecular biology, genetics, cell biology, and immunology have made it possible to identify several pathomechanisms. However, still more questions arise with regard to the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment of immunologically mediated cardiovascular diseases. In this book, leading scientists and clinicians from different areas of cardiology present the state-of-the-art knowledge on the involve ment of the immune system in myocardial and vascular diseases. In the field of myocarditis, both the virological and the immunological findings are presented, and the interactions between the virus and the immune system are discussed. Since the cellular immune system and its mediators play an important role in the inflammation by bacteria that cause endocarditis and septic shock, studies investigating the underlying pathomechanisms are de scribed. Another major topic in this volume is the involvement of the immune system in arteriosclerosis and coronary heart disease, which represents an important problem in clinical cardiology. The final chapter addresses the question of therapeutic options, presenting new approaches for a specific and effective therapy based on the current knowledge of immunologically mediated cardiovascular diseases."

Following its tradition of promoting novel areas of scienti?c discourse, the Ernst Schering Research Foundation (ESRF) hosted this workshop on chronic viral and in?ammatory cardiomyopathy. In late October 2004, scientists from Canada, Germany, the Georgian Republic, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Israel, Sweden, and the United States ga- ered in Berlin to discuss their concepts, hypotheses, and latest ?ndings on myocarditis and cardiomyopathy. This expert meeting was held in cooperation with the German - search Foundation, which in the same year had supported transregional collaborative research activities entitled "In?ammatory Cardiomyo- thy - Molecular Pathogenesis and Therapy." Organizing the workshop, our efforts strove to render tighter the network between the distinct disciplines involved in cardiomyopathy - search, building bridges between its molecular, pathogenetic, diagnostic, and therapeutic determinants. It all began as a story of a neighborhood, and we would like to express our hope that this long-term project, which will require much and - tensive cooperative work among the participants, will evolve to become a story of a good neighborhood.