Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37339840›Full record

SynthesisBMJ open2023

Risk of myocarditis and pericarditis in mRNA COVID-19-vaccinated and unvaccinated populations: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Abdallah Alami, Daniel Krewski, Nawal Farhat, Donald Mattison, Kumanan Wilson, Christopher A Gravel, Patrick J Farrell, James A G Crispo, Nisrine Haddad, Santiago Perez-Lloret and 1 more

Open access · goldAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in BMJ open, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
23citing papers in PubMed
8.2field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

23 citing papers in PubMed, 42 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
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  11. New COVID-19 vaccination recommendations in Spain: Optimizing for next seasons.Enfermedades infecciosas y microbiologia clinica · 2025
    Review
  12. Nuvaxovid NVX-CoV2373 vaccine safety profile: real-world data evidence after 100,000 doses, Australia, 2022 to 2023.Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin · 2024
    Observational
  13. Article
  14. Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.

Abdallah AlamiSchool of Mathematics and Statistics, Faculty of Science, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada abdallahalami@cmail.carleton.ca.ORCID 0000-0001-7500-0644
Daniel KrewskiSchool of Epidemiology and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Nawal FarhatSchool of Mathematics and Statistics, Faculty of Science, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Donald MattisonSchool of Epidemiology and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Kumanan WilsonBruyère Research Institute, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Christopher A GravelSchool of Epidemiology and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Patrick J FarrellSchool of Mathematics and Statistics, Faculty of Science, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
James A G CrispoFaculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Nisrine HaddadSchool of Epidemiology and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Santiago Perez-LloretConsejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Paul J VilleneuveDepartment of Neurosciences, Faculty of Science, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
University of Ottawa · CACarleton University · CAConsejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas · ARUniversity of British Columbia · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo summarise the available evidence on the risk of myocarditis and/or pericarditis following mRNA COVID-19 vaccination, compared with the risk among unvaccinated individuals in the absence of COVID-19 infection.

designSystematic review and meta-analysis. DATA SOURCES: Electronic databases (Medline, Embase, Web of Science and WHO Global Literature on Coronavirus Disease), preprint repositories (medRxiv and bioRxiv), reference lists and grey literature were searched from 1 December 2020 until 31 October 2022. STUDY SELECTION: Epidemiological studies of individuals of any age who received at least one dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, reported a risk of myo/pericarditis and compared the risk of myo/pericarditis to individuals who did not receive any dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: Two reviewers independently conducted screening and data extraction. The rate of myo/pericarditis among vaccinated and unvaccinated groups was recorded, and the rate ratios were calculated. Additionally, the total number of individuals, case ascertainment criteria, percentage of males and history of SARS-CoV-2 infection were extracted for each study. Meta-analysis was done using a random-effects model.

resultsSeven studies met the inclusion criteria, of which six were included in the quantitative synthesis. Our meta-analysis indicates that within 30-day follow-up period, vaccinated individuals were twice as likely to develop myo/pericarditis in the absence of SARS-CoV-2 infection compared to unvaccinated individuals, with a rate ratio of 2.05 (95% CI 1.49-2.82).

conclusionAlthough the absolute number of observed myo/pericarditis cases remains quite low, a higher risk was detected in those who received mRNA COVID-19 vaccinations compared with unvaccinated individuals in the absence of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Given the effectiveness of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines in preventing severe illnesses, hospitalisations and deaths, future research should focus on accurately determining the rates of myo/pericarditis linked to mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, understanding the biological mechanisms behind these rare cardiac events and identifying those most at risk.

Indexed as

COVID-19COVID-19 VaccinesMyocarditisPericarditisHumansMaleRNA, MessengerSARS-CoV-2VaccinationCOVID-19 VaccinesRNA, MessengerCOVID-19EpidemiologyPUBLIC HEALTH

Identifiers

PMID37339840
PMCPMC10314577
OpenAlexW4381434687

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.