Pathological Evidence for SARS-CoV-2 as a Cause of Myocarditis: JACC Review Topic of the Week.

ABSTRACT: To investigate whether severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2)-induced myocarditis constitutes an important mechanism of cardiac injury, a review was conducted of the published data and the authors' experience was added from autopsy examination of 16 patients dying of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Myocarditis is an uncommon pathologic diagnosis occurring in 4.5% of highly selected cases undergoing autopsy or endomyocardial biopsy. Although polymerase chain reaction-detectable virus could be found in the lungs of most coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19)-infected subjects in our own autopsy registry, in only 2 cases was the virus detected in the heart. It should be appreciated that myocardial inflammation alone by macrophages and T cells can be seen in noninfectious deaths and C

SUBMITTER: Kawakami R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7816957 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature