Is the incidence of perimyocarditis increased following Campylobacter jejuni infection?

Preliminary case reports have suggested an association between Campylobacter jejuni infection and occurrence of perimyocarditis. In the present study we analysed the incidence of perimyocarditis requiring hospitalization in a Danish cohort of 6,204 patients with Campylobacter-positive stool cultures and compared it to the incidence in a matched control cohort comprising 62,040 subjects. We found no cases of pericarditis in the Campylobacter population and an incidence rate of 3.2 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.8–12.9] per 100,000 person-years in the control population. The incidence rate of myocarditis was 16.1 (95% CI: 2.3–114.4) per 100,000 person-years in the Campylobacter population compared to 1.6 (95% CI: 0.2–11.4) per 100,000 person-years in the control cohort. We found no statistically significant difference in perimyocarditis between the two groups.