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WEDNESDAY, Nov. 4, 2020 (HealthDay News)<\/p>\n
Inflammation of the heart<\/a> muscle (myocarditis<\/a>) is less common in COVID-19<\/a> patients than previously thought, according to a new study.<\/p>\n Previously reported rates of myocarditis<\/a> in COVID-19<\/a> patients ranged from 14% among recovered athletes to 60% in middle-aged and older recovered patients.<\/p>\n “Although it is clear that COVID-19<\/a> impacts the heart<\/a> and blood vessels, to date, it has been difficult to know how reproducible any changes are due to the relatively small sample size of most autopsy<\/a> series,” said study author Dr. Richard Vander Heide. He’s professor of medicine at Louisiana State University (LSU) Health Sciences Center, in New Orleans.<\/p>\n To get a clearer picture, the investigators analyzed autopsies of 277 people who died of COVID-19<\/a> in nine countries.<\/p>\n The rate of myocarditis in these patients was between 1.4% and 7.2%, the researchers found.<\/p>\n The findings suggest that myocarditis caused by COVID-19<\/a> may be relatively rare, according to Vander Heide and co-author Dr. Marc Halushka. He’s professor of pathology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, in Baltimore.<\/p>\n “What we have learned is that myocarditis is not nearly as frequent in COVID-19<\/a> as has been thought. This finding should be useful for our clinical colleagues to reconsider how to interpret blood tests and heart radiology studies,” Halushka said.<\/p>\n Vander Heide said the large number of cases studied gave the researchers a better idea about what health changes to expect.<\/p>\n “Even a low myocarditis rate of 1.4% would predict hundreds of thousands of worldwide cases of myocarditis in severe COVID-19 due to the enormous numbers of infected individuals. Low rates of myocarditis do not indicate that individuals infected with SARS<\/a>-CoV-2 are not having cardiovascular problems, but rather those complications are likely due to other stressors such as endothelial cell activation, cytokine storms or electrolyte<\/a> imbalances,” Vander Heide said in a LSU news release.<\/p>\n The researchers created a checklist for pathologists to use during autopsies of COVID-19 patients so there’s consistency in investigating and reporting findings.<\/p>\n The report was published online recently in the journal Cardiovascular Pathology.<\/em><\/p>\n “This study demonstrates the importance of the autopsy<\/a> in helping us determine what is occurring in the hearts of individuals passing away due to COVID-19,” Halushka added.<\/p>\n More information<\/strong><\/p>\n For more on myocarditis, go to the U.S. National Library of Medicine<\/a>.<\/p>\n SOURCE: Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, news release, Oct. 30, 2020<\/p>\n Robert Preidt<\/p>\n ![\"MedicalNews\"](\"https:\/\/images.medicinenet.com\/images\/HealthDay\/healthday.png\")
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