• Christopher J Babbitt, Michael J Babbitt, Francesca Byrne, and Tricia Morphew.
• From the Pediatric Critical Care, Miller Children's and Women's Hospital of Long Beach, Long Beach.
• Pediatr Emerg Care. 2022 Feb 1; 38 (2): e761e765e761-e765.

MethodsA database query was performed and identified patients over a 9-year period, and clinical data, laboratory data, and cardiac studies were extracted and analyzed from the electronic health record.ResultsA total of 36 patients were identified with the discharge diagnosis of myopericarditis and 22 with myocarditis. The median age for myopericarditis patients was 16.2 years, and 97% were male. The median initial troponin was 7.1 ng/mL, the peak was at 16.6 ng/mL, and 58% had ST changes on electrocardiogram. The median length of stay for myopericarditis patients was 1.7 days, and 50% were discharged home on nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medication. Compared with myocarditis, myopericarditis patients were older, had a higher incidence of chest pain, and were less likely to have fever, vomiting, abdominal pain, upper respiratory infection symptoms, chest radiograph abnormalities, or T-wave inversion (P < 0.05). Myopericarditis patients also had lower Pediatric Risk of Mortality version 3 scores, B-type natriuretic peptide levels, and higher left ventricular ejection fractions on admission (67% vs 41%; P < 0.05). A classification model incorporating initial left ventricular ejection fraction, B-type natriuretic peptide, electrocardiogram, and chest radiograph findings distinguished myopericarditis from myocarditis with correct classification in 95% of patients.ConclusionsMyopericarditis is a relatively common cause of chest pain for patients admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit, presents differently than true myocarditis, and carries a good prognosis.Copyright © 2021 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

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