ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Myocarditis and pericarditis have been proposed to account for a proportion of cardiac injury during SARS-CoV-2 infection. The impact of COVID-19 the pandemic on the incidence of this acute inflammatory cardiac disease was not systematically evaluated. AIM: To examine the incidence and prevalence of inflammatory heart disorders prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: We compared the incidence and prevalence of acute inflammatory heart diseases (myocarditis, pericarditis) in the provinces of Pisa, Lucca and Livorno in two time intervals: prior to (PRECOVID, from 1 June 2018 to 31 May 2019) and during the COVID-19 pandemic (COVID, from 1 June 2020 to May 2021). RESULTS: Overall 259 cases of inflammatory heart disease (myocarditis and/or pericarditis) occurred in the areas of interest. The annual incidence was of 11.3 cases per 100â000 inhabitants. Particularly, 138 cases occurred in the pre-COVID, and 121 in the COVID period. The annual incidence of inflammatory heart disease was not significantly different (12.1/100â000 in PRECOVID vs 10.3/100â000 in COVID, Pâ=â0.22). The annual incidence of myocarditis was significantly higher in PRECOVID than in COVID, respectively 8.1/100â000/year vs. 5.9/100â000/year (Pâ=â0.047) consisting of a net reduction of 27% of cases. Particularly the incidence of myocarditis was significantly lower in COVID than in PRECOVID in the class of age 18-24