Heart failure & cardiomyopathies

Incidence, Timing and Clinical Significance of Immune-Mediated Myocardial Injury and Myocarditis After Gene Replacement Therapy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Circ Heart FailPublished Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Authors' conclusion

Immune-mediated myocarditis/myocardial injury after systemic AAV gene therapy occurred in <10 per 100 patient-years (peaking at weeks 1-3) and was usually clinically mild, with a minority showing transient dysfunction. All events followed intravenous doses >1×10 1 3 vector genomes per kilogram body weight, clustered in neuromuscular programs, and were associated with certain recombinant capsids/serotypes. These data support intensive early cardiac monitoring, cautious dose selection, and delivery strategies to minimize systemic exposure.

Study context

Population
Patients treated with adeno-associated virus (AAV)-replacement therapyhuman patients in 80 studies
Participants
1,939 patients
Outcome
Myocarditis incidence rate per 100 patient-years
Methodological detailsrandom-effects models, restricted maximum likelihood estimation, Hartung, Knapp, Sidik, and Jonkman method, pharmacovigilance search of VigiBase and FDA Adverse Event Reporting System
  • Random-effects models
  • Restricted maximum likelihood estimation
  • Hartung, Knapp, Sidik, and Jonkman method
  • Pharmacovigilance search of VigiBase and FDA Adverse Event Reporting System

Pooled result

As reported in the abstract

Cases of myocarditis
Seventy-one
Pooled incidence rate per 100 patient-years
8.6 (95% CI, 5.8-10.7; I 2 =63.2%)

Further pooled results

Timing of myocardial injury and myocarditis

Myocardial injury peaked in week 1 after injection
90% [95% CI, 85.7%-96.2%]; I 2 =43.2%
Myocarditis occurred mostly after week 2
55% [95% CI, 48.7%-65.2%]; I 2 =33.1%
No cases after the first month

Clinical impact of myocarditis/myocardial injury

No relevant clinical impact
62, 87%
Transient left ventricular dysfunction (recovered during follow-up)
8 (12%)
Only death, in the setting of cytokine-mediated capillary leak syndrome with cardiac dysfunction

Myocarditis in FDA Adverse Event Reporting System and VigiBase

Delandistrogene moxeparvovec
1/16 [6%]
Onasemnogene abeparvovec
14/217 [6%]

Adverse events and observation

Adverse events reported
734
Patient-years of pooled observation
2122
All events followed an intravenous dose >10 13 vector genomes per kilogram body weight

Original publication

Incidence, Timing and Clinical Significance of Immune-Mediated Myocardial Injury and Myocarditis After Gene Replacement Therapy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Circ Heart Fail. Published 7 April 2026. doi:10.1161/circheartfailure.125.013771

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