Abstract 307: Real-world Clinical Characteristics and Recurrence Burden of Patients Diagnosed With Recurrent Pericarditis in The United States

Abstract

Introduction: Real-world data describing acute pericarditis (AP) etiology in the US are limited. Data on the characteristics of recurrent pericarditis (RP) patients (pts) are also sparse. To fill this gap, our study assesses longitudinal data from a nationwide privately-insured population. Methods: OptumHealth Reporting and Insights employer claims data (1/2007-3/2017) were used. AP pts were identified and categorized as idiopathic or non-idiopathic etiology based on presence or absence of attributable conditions. Among idiopathic AP pts, a subgroup of RP pts was identified. Recurrence was defined as ≥2 AP events separated by >4 weeks. First recurrence date marked the index date. Pts aged ≥18 years with ≥12 months of continuous enrollment pre-index (baseline) were included. Results: Of 17,168 AP pts, 4,175 (24.3%) had non-idiopathic and 12,993 (75.7%) had idiopathic etiology (Table 1). Application of inclusion criteria left 8,822 idiopathic AP pts, of whom 1,604 (18.2%) had ≥1 recurrence during a mean observation period of 29 months. On average, idiopathic RP pts were aged 50.7 years, 51.6% female, and 42.3% had baseline history of hypertension, 23.8% of coronary artery disease, 11.7% of hypercholesterolemia, and 7.3% of myocardial infarction. Mean (±SD) time from initial AP diagnosis to first recurrence was 8.7 (±12.1) months and mean (±SD) number of recurrences was 1.7 (±1.3) per pt. In idiopathic RP pts with ≥4 years of follow-up after the initial AP diagnosis (N=512), 35.9% had ≥2, 18.2% had ≥3, and 9.8% had ≥4 recurrences within 4 years. Conclusions: The etiologic distribution and proportion of pts with RP are consistent with previous reports. About 36% of RP pts experience ≥2 recurrences after AP diagnosis over 4 years. RP represents a significant clinical burden for affected pts.