Heart Inflammation - Risk Factors - Risk Factors

Different age groups are at risk for different types of heart inflammation:

• Although they can affect all ages, myocarditis and pericarditis occur more often in young adults. Pericarditis also commonly affects middle-aged adults.
• Older adults are more at risk for endocarditis caused by bacteria. In recent years, age-related heart valve infections have been on the rise.

Heart inflammation from endocarditis, myocarditis, and pericarditis is more common in men than in women, except when caused by autoimmune diseases, such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, which are more common in women.

Endocarditis and pericarditis occur twice as often in men as in women.

Genetics play a role in the risk of developing all three types of heart inflammation. Your genes may be partly responsible for how your body responds to infection and inflammation and whether you develop myocarditis or pericarditis.

People who have structural or congenital heart defects, such as problems with the heart valves, may be at higher risk for infection that can cause endocarditis.

Certain inherited conditions can affect your risk for heart inflammation. For example, you may be at higher risk for myocarditis and pericarditis if you have familial Mediterranean fever or tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated periodic syndrome (TRAPS). These rare conditions affect how the body controls inflammation.

Chagas disease, common in Latin America, can cause acute and chronic myocarditis. It is caused by a parasite that is spread by certain types of insects. Endocarditis caused by Streptococcus bacteria is more common in less developed countries.

Certain lifestyle choices raise your risk for endocarditis or myocarditis. These include:

• Drinking too much alcohol, which may cause inflammation of the myocardium and could lead to reduced heart function and heart failure
• Drug use such as cocaine and amphetamines and intravenous drug use with endocarditis
• Poor dental health, which increases the risk for bacterial endocarditis

Some medical conditions can increase your risk of endocarditis, myocarditis, or pericarditis. These include:

• Cancers, such as advanced lung and breast cancer or lymphoma. Medicines used to treat these types of cancer can cause myocarditis or pericarditis.
• Diabetes, which can make you more likely to develop infections
• Eating disorders such as anorexia
• End-stage kidney disease, which can result from the buildup of waste products in the blood
• HIV/AIDS, which may lead to myocarditis from a number of causes, including viral, bacterial, or fungal infection; treatment; and nutritional deficiencies. People who have HIV/AIDS may be at higher risk for fungal infection.
• Skin disorders, such as burns or recurrent infections
• Trauma or injury to the chest or esophagus, or indirect injury to the chest wall

Certain medical procedures can increase your risk of endocarditis, myocarditis, or pericarditis, including:

• Central venous line, which is an intravenous catheter that goes into a larger central vein in your body
• Devices in the heart, such as artificial heart valves, pacemakers, and implantable cardioverter defibrillators
• Hemodialysis for end-stage kidney disease. Infection may result from access to blood vessels needed for hemodialysis.
• Medical procedures, such as having a central venous line, which is an intravenous catheter that goes into a larger central vein in your body; heart ablation for abnormal heart rhythm; or treatments for coronary heart disease
• Radiation therapy to treat cancers such as lung and breast cancer and lymphoma. This may cause myocarditis or pericarditis.
• Treatments for ischemic heart disease