A 24-year-old developed heart muscle inflammation after smoking marijuana | Research

The takeaway

A 24-year-old man with no medical history or cardiovascular risk factors developed acute myocarditis with reduced heart function and a blood clot after marijuana consumption.

Cardiologists, emergency physicians, and clinicians evaluating chest pain in young cannabis users.

Acute myocarditis with apical thrombus in a 24-year-old after marijuana use

What the researchers found

Following marijuana use, the patient presented with chest pain and was diagnosed with acute myocarditis based on ECG, cardiac enzyme elevation, and echocardiography. Follow-up echo revealed a small apical clot and reduced left ventricular ejection fraction without focal wall motion abnormality. He was discharged on anticoagulation.

Why it matters

While cannabis-associated myocardial infarction is increasingly recognized, myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle) is rarely reported and may represent a distinct pathophysiology.

The numbers in context

Patient age: 24. No prior medical history. No cardiovascular risk factors. Complications: apical thrombus, reduced LVEF. Treatment: oral anticoagulation.

How the study worked

Case report with clinical presentation, ECG, cardiac biomarkers, and serial echocardiography.

What this study cannot tell us

Single case report. Cannot definitively prove cannabis caused the myocarditis. Other potential causes (viral, autoimmune) were not completely excluded in the abstract. No cardiac MRI mentioned.

How to read the evidence

Single case report without cardiac MRI confirmation.

When this study was published

Published in 2022.

The bigger picture

Cannabis-induced myocarditis, though rare, adds to the spectrum of cardiac complications that clinicians should consider in young patients presenting with chest pain after cannabis use.

Questions still open

What is the mechanism by which cannabis might cause myocarditis? How common is subclinical myocardial inflammation among regular cannabis users?

Common questions

Can marijuana cause heart inflammation?

This case documents myocarditis (heart muscle inflammation) in a 24-year-old after marijuana use, though it is very rare and a single case cannot prove causation.

How was the patient treated?

The patient was stabilized and discharged on oral anticoagulation for a small blood clot that formed in the heart, with no symptoms at discharge.

Read the original research

Marijuana-induced myocarditis in a 24-year-old man.

Archive of clinical cases, 9(2), 69-74

View on PubMed ↗Publisher’s paper ↗

Citation

Alirezaei, Toktam; Mohammadi, Mohammad Kalateh Agha; Irilouzadian, Rana; Zarinparsa, Hamidreza. (2022). Marijuana-induced myocarditis in a 24-year-old man.. Archive of clinical cases, 9(2), 69-74. https://doi.org/10.22551/2022.35.0902.10206