Abstract 248: Recurrence Burden in Recurrent Pericarditis: A US-based Retrospective Study of Administrative Healthcare Claims

Abstract

Background: Up to 30% of incident pericarditis patients (pts) recur within 18 months. Recurrences can be debilitating and typically last several weeks despite conventional treatments (Tx). Recurrence burden (likelihood and frequency) is poorly defined. Improved understanding of recurrence burden can inform Tx decisions and the introduction of novel therapies. Method: Adults with idiopathic recurrent pericarditis (RP) were identified in the OptumHealth Reporting and Insights dataset (2007-2017). RP was defined as ≥2 episodes separated by >4 weeks. Disease duration (time from first episode to end of last recurrence, confirmed by a 1.5-year recurrence-free period) was evaluated using Kaplan-Meier analysis. Recurrence frequency and time between recurrences were evaluated among pts with 4+ years of observation. Result: Of the 1,604 RP pts, mean age was 50.7 years and 51.6% were female. Median RP duration was 2.1 and 3.1 years for pts with ≥1 and ≥2 recurrences, respectively ( Figure ). Over 4 years with RP, 15% of pts with ≥1 recurrence and 22% of pts with ≥2 recurrences had more than one episode/year. Mean ± SD time from first episode to first recurrence was 14.5 ± 17.9 months and 10.7 ± 12.1 months between subsequent recurrences. Conclusion: Recurrent pericarditis can span many years. Over half of pts with ≥2 recurrences have RP persisting over 3 years. Subsequent recurrences are more frequent but highly variable, making RP unpredictable. Tx to reduce recurrences could benefit pts with ≥2 recurrences.