Epidemiology of Myocarditis

Epidemiology of Myocarditis

 

Guest: Leslie Cooper, M.D.

Host: Sharonne Hayes, M.D.

 

Approximately 1,000,000 cases of myocarditis are diagnosed annually with an incidence of approximately 16/100,000.  The incidence is highest in men between 15 and 45 years of age.  However, after age 60 years, women have higher mortality than men. The overall mortality rate is 0.4/100,000.  The rates of diagnosis are double in high SDI regions compared to low STI regions, most likely due to the availability of the pivot all diagnostic tests, cardiac MRI and heart biopsy.  The incidence rates are stable while the death rates have decreased from 1990 to 2023.  Finally, the causes of myocarditis or changing with more cases of immune checkpoint inhibitor related myocarditis which can affect between 0.2 and 1.1% of patients receiving these cancer therapies.

 

Topics Discussed:

• How does the epidemiology of myocarditis help inform clinical practice for individual patient management?
• Are there clinically important sex differences in myocarditis incidence and mortality which practicing physician should be aware of?
• Are the causes of myocarditis changing? If so, how does a change in etiology affect management?

 

For more information, review the study below:

Klingel, K., Tschöpe, C., Yon, D.K. et al. Global epidemiology of myocarditis: disparities in age, sex and geography. Nat Rev Cardiol (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41569-026-01276-w

 

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Podcast episode transcript found here.

 

Recorded on: 01-April-2026