Key result
COVID-19 autopsies reveal overt myocarditis in just 2.5% of cases, unlinked to cardiomyocyte viral genomes.
Why the study?
The mechanisms behind myocardial injury in hospitalized COVID-19 patients, its association with SARS-CoV-2-mediated myocarditis, and definite evidence of the presence and role of SARS-CoV-2 in cardiomyocytes were poorly understood.
Does SARS-CoV-2 infection cause direct viral myocarditis in patients dying from severe COVID-19?
Population
40 patients deceased with severe SARS-CoV-2 infection during the first wave of the pandemic
Design
Autopsy and clinical study
Authors
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Suggests indirect mechanisms drive myocardial injury in fatal COVID-19; leaves open direct viral myocarditis in nonfatal cases.
Observational (n=40)
No
Does SARS-CoV-2 infection cause direct viral myocarditis in patients dying from severe COVID-19?
In fatal COVID-19 cases, myocardial injury is common and correlates with pneumonia severity and pre-existing comorbidities, but true viral myocarditis is rare and not associated with direct SARS-CoV-2 infection of cardiomyocytes.
Ferro et al. (2021) conducted an observational in Severe COVID-19 (n=40). SARS-CoV-2 infection (autopsy study) was evaluated on Prevalence of overt myocarditis. In an autopsy cohort of 40 COVID-19 patients, overt myocarditis was found in only 2.5% of cases and was not associated with the presence of SARS-CoV-2 genome in cardiomyocytes.
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