Early reports during the COVID-19 pandemic raised concerns that young athletes with COVID-19 would be at increased risk of myocarditis and sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) or sudden cardiac death (SCD). Many media and social media reports insinuated that COVID-19 illness or mRNA vaccines caused an increase in SCA/SCD in athletes. The study's objective was to compare the prevalence of SCA/SCD in young athletes in the 3 years before the pandemic with the first 3 years of the pandemic using data from the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research (NCCSIR).
The cohort study found no increase in SCA/SCD in young competitive athletes in the US during the COVID-19 pandemic, suggesting that reports asserting otherwise were overestimating the cardiovascular risk of COVID-19 infection, vaccination, and myocarditis. Many athlete cases shown in social media video montages occurred before the pandemic yet claimed COVID-19 infection or vaccination raised the risk of SCA/SCD.
SOURCE: JAMA
Corresponding Author: Jonathan A. Drezner, MD, Department of Family Medicine, Center for Sports Cardiology, University of Washington