Rate of cardiovascular events up to 8 years after uncomplicated myocarditis: a nationwide cohort study

While prognosis of acute myocarditis with uncomplicated presentation is perceived as benign, data on long-term outcomes are scarce. We evaluated rates of myocarditis-associated cardiovascular events after a first-time hospitalization with uncomplicated acute myocarditis in patients without known heart disease.

In this retrospective nationwide population-based cohort study from 2013 to 2020, hospitalized patients with uncomplicated acute myocarditis but without known heart disease were 1:1 propensity score-matched with surgical controls hospitalized for laparoscopic appendectomy. As assessed in time-to-event analyses, the primary outcome was a composite of rehospitalization for myocarditis, pericardial disease, heart failure and its complications, arrhythmias, implantation of cardiac devices, and heart transplant. After matching, we identified 1439 patients with uncomplicated acute myocarditis (median age of 35 years, 74.0% male) and 1439 surgical controls (median age of 36 years, 74.4% male). Over a median follow-up of 39 months, compared with surgical controls, the hazard ratio for the primary composite outcome was 42.3 [95% confidence interval (CI) 17.4-102.8], corresponding to an incidence rate of 43.7 vs. 0.9 per 1000 patient-years (py) and an incidence rate difference of 42.7 (95% CI 36.7-48.8) per 1000 py.

Patients hospitalized with uncomplicated acute myocarditis and no known prior heart disease were associated with substantial risk for cardiovascular events over a follow-up of up to 8 years. This calls for a more efficient therapeutic management of this population of patients.