A 57‐year‐old male medical worker recorded over six thousand 30‐s rhythm strips for a period exceeding five years and spanning the entire COVID‐19 pandemic. Clear peaks were observed in the frequency of ectopic heart beats following each spike exposure. These were predominately premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) following the mRNA vaccines and premature atrial contractions (PACs) following the virus exposures. The initial peak occurred 4 months post‐mRNA vaccination gradually decreasing to 2 weeks of postvirus exposure after 4 years of monitoring. The detection of the viral exposures was made by a double peak pattern in the resting heart rate over a 7–12‐day period and later confirmed on three occasions by elevated SARS‐CoV‐2 IgG titers. These patterns strongly suggest that COVID‐19 antibodies to the spike proteins are cross‐react with the cardiac conduction system, causing the ectopic beats. These PACs progressed to paroxysmal atrial fibrillation 6 weeks of postantigen exposure in two cases suggesting an autoantibody origin for paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.
Jones et al. (2026) studied this question.