Title : Association between COVID-19 infection and myocarditis
Abstract:
Introduction: This study focuses on the relationship between COVID-19 infection and myocarditis across different age groups. Previous studies have indicated that both natural Covid-19 infection and MRNACovid vaccination might trigger subsequent myocarditis especially in younger adults.
Methods: Insurance claims data from the Colorado all payers claims data set (July 1, 2017 to December 31, 2022) were examined. We used SAS to analyze ICD-10 diagnostic codes for COVID-19 and myocarditis. We excluded cases of myocarditis that occurred more than 5 days before a diagnosis of Covid-19 infection. These samples were grouped into several two by two tables by the two diseases and stratified by five age groups (0 to 17, 18 to 29, 30 to 44, 45 to 64, and 65+).
Results: Our data set included 3,209,252 people, 222,555 with documented cases of COVID-19 infection. There were 143 documented cases of myocarditis. 11 cases of myocarditis were excluded based on occurrence prior to Covid-19 infection as described above. In the COVID-19 group, the rate of myocarditis per ten thousand was 1.123. In the non-COVID group, the rate of myocarditis per 10,000 was 0.358. Patients who were diagnosed with COVID-19 experienced a 3.166 { 2.048,4.895} times increased risk for developing myocarditis than those not diagnosed with COVID-19. (P <.0001) The risk difference varied between age groups. The risk was highest for age groups 0 to 18,18 to 30 years and 30 to 45 years, with OR’s 3.923, 4.288 and 4.969 respectively. The lowest OR’a occurred in the age groups 45 to 65 years and greater than 65 at 2.042 and 2.044.
Conclusions: Our data shows a significant association between COVID-19 infection and the incidence of concurrent or subsequent myocarditis which is most pronounced from ages 0 to 45 years.
