Epidemiology, Etiopathogenesis of Myocarditis Caused by COVID-19

Abstract

The cardiovascular manifestation in COVID-19 is diverse: acute myocardial infarction, myocarditis, stress cardiomyopathy, non-ischemic cardiomyopathy, coronary spasm. A feature of coronavirus myocarditis is the presence of endotheliitis and destructive-productive vasculitis of small branches of the coronary arteries.  In the pathogenesis of myocarditis in COVID-19, it should be considered that the introduction of coronavirus and its interaction with toll-like receptors induces an excessive, uncontrolled response of innate immunity with the release of an unbalanced amount of pro-inflammatory cytokines, which  is called a cytokine storm, and causes tissue damage, including the lungs, heart and vessels.