Background—: The clinical profile with regard to sex and the influences on outcomes in patients who have been hospitalized for acute pericarditis is largely uncharacterized. Methods and Results—: We studied all patients aged ≥16 years admitted to the hospital because of acute pericarditis (postpericardiotomy and myocardial infarction associated pericarditis were excluded). Data were collected from a Finnish national registry that included data on all cardiovascular admissions (670 409) during 9.5 years in 29 hospitals nationwide. During the study period, there were 1361 admissions for acute pericarditis. Pericarditis patients were more likely to be male (64.9% of patients) than female (35.1%), with an age-adjusted likelihood ratio of 1.85 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.65–2.06; P <0.0001) for male sex. The standardized incidence rate of hospitalizations for acute pericarditis was 3.32 per 100 000 person-years. Men 16 to 65 years of age were at higher risk for pericarditis (relative risk, 2.02; 95% CI, 1.81–2.26; P <0.0001) than women in the general admitted population, with the highest risk difference among young adults. Acute pericarditis caused 0.20% (95% CI, 0.19%–0.22%) of all cardiovascular admissions. The proportion of pericarditis-caused admissions declined by an estimated 51% per 10-year increase in age. The in-hospital mortality rate for acute pericarditis was 1.1% (95% CI, 0.6%–1.8%). Mortality increased with age (hazard ratio, 3.26; 95% CI, 1.78–5.95 per 10-year increase in age; P =0.0001) and severe coinfection (pneumonia or septicemia; hazard ratio, 13.46; 95% CI, 2.26–80.01; P <0.005) but was not associated with sex in multivariate analysis. Conclusions—: Patients hospitalized for acute pericarditis are more commonly male. Increasing age and severe coinfection are associated with greater in-hospital mortality in hospitalized acute pericarditis patients.

Background. Although enteroviruses and adenoviruses are considered to be the leading causes of the usually mild clinical myocarditis, little is known

Objectives Infective endocarditis (IE) is a life-threatening disease associated with significant mortality. We studied recent temporal trends and age and sex differences in the occurrence and short-term mortality of IE. Design Population based retrospective cohort study. Setting Data of IE hospital admissions in patients aged ≥18 years in Finland during 2005–2014 and 30-day all-cause mortality data were retrospectively collected from mandatory nationwide registries from 38 hospitals. Outcomes Trends and age and sex differences in occurrence. Thirty-day mortality. Results There were 2611 cases of IE during the study period (68.2% men, mean age 60 years). Female patients were significantly older than males (62.0 vs 59.0 years, p=0.0004). Total standardised annual incidence rate of IE admission was 6.33/100 000 person-years. Men had significantly higher risk of IE compared with women (9.5 vs 3.7/100 000; incidence rate ratios [IRR] 2.49; p<0.0001) and difference was most prominent at age 40–59 years (IRR 4.49; p<0.0001). Incidence rate varied from 5.7/100 000 in 2005 to 7.1/100 000 in 2012 with estimated average 2.1% increase per year (p=0.036) and similar trends in both sexes. Significant increasing trend was observed in patients aged 18–29 years and 30–39 years (estimated annual increase 7.6% and 7.2%, p=0.002) and borderline in patients aged 40–49 years (annual increase 3.8%, p=0.08). In older population, IE incidence rate remained stable. The overall 30-day mortality after IE admission was 11.3%. Mortality was similar between sexes, increased with ageing, and remained similar during the study period. Conclusions Occurrence of IE is increasing in young adults in Finland. Men, especially middle-aged, are at higher risk for IE compared with women. Thirty-day mortality has remained stable at 11%, increased with ageing, and was similar between sexes.