Outcomes of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Patients Recently Recovered From Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
Authors: Andreas M Zeiher
M Ludovica Carerj
Imke Wieters
Eike Nagel
Masia Fahim
Jedrzej Hoffmann
Christophe Arendt
Felicitas Escher
Valentina O Puntmann
Mariuca Vasa-Nicotera
Anastasia Shchendrygina
Maria Vehreschild
Journal: JAMA Cardiology (2020)
Discipline: CLINICAL MEDICINE
Keywords: COVID-19; myocardial injury; cardiovascular system; cardiovascular magnetic resonance; troponin T
Affiliations: Institute for Experimental and Translational Cardiovascular Imaging, DZHK Centre for Cardiovascular Imaging, University Hospital Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Department of Biomedical Sciences and Morphological and Functional Imaging, University of Messina, Messina, Italy, Department of Infectious Diseases, University Hospital Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Hospital Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Department of Cardiology, Goethe University Hospital Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Department of Hospital Therapy No. 1, I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russia, Institute for Cardiac Diagnostic and Therapy, Berlin, Germany

Abstract:  Importance: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to cause considerable morbidity and mortality worldwide. Case reports of hospitalized patients suggest that COVID-19 prominently affects the cardiovascular system, but the overall impact remains unknown. Objective: To evaluate the presence of myocardial injury in unselected patients recently recovered from COVID-19 illness. Design, setting, and participants: In this prospective observational cohort study, 100 patients recently recovered from COVID-19 illness were identified from the University Hospital Frankfurt COVID-19 Registry between April and June 2020. Exposure: Recent recovery from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection, as determined by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction on swab test of the upper respiratory tract. Main outcomes and measures: Demographic characteristics, cardiac blood markers, and cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging were obtained. Comparisons were made with age-matched and sex-matched control groups of healthy volunteers (n = 50) and risk factor-matched patients (n = 57). Results: Of the 100 included patients, 53 (53%) were male, and the mean (SD) age was 49 (14) years. The median (IQR) time interval between COVID-19 diagnosis and CMR was 71 (64-92) days. Of the 100 patients recently recovered from COVID-19, 67 (67%) recovered at home, while 33 (33%) required hospitalization. At the time of CMR, high-sensitivity troponin T (hsTnT) was detectable (greater than 3 pg/mL) in 71 patients recently recovered from COVID-19 (71%) and significantly elevated (greater than 13.9 pg/mL) in 5 patients (5%). Compared with healthy controls and risk factor-matched controls, patients recently recovered from COVID-19 had lower left ventricular ejection fraction, higher left ventricle volumes, and raised native T1 and T2. A total of 78 patients recently recovered from COVID-19 (78%) had abnormal CMR findings, including raised myocardial native T1 (n = 73), raised myocardial native T2 (n = 60), myocardial late gadolinium enhancement (n = 32), or pericardial enhancement (n = 22). There was a small but significant difference between patients who recovered at home vs in the hospital for native T1 mapping (median [IQR], 1119 [1092-1150] ms vs 1141 [1121-1175] ms; P = .008) and hsTnT (4.2 [3.0-5.9] pg/dL vs 6.3 [3.4-7.9] pg/dL; P = .002) but not for native T2 mapping. None of these measures were correlated with time from COVID-19 diagnosis (native T1: r = 0.07; P = .47; native T2: r = 0.14; P = .15; hsTnT: r = -0.07; P = .50). High-sensitivity troponin T was significantly correlated with native T1 mapping (r = 0.33; P &lt; .001) and native T2 mapping (r = 0.18; P = .01). Endomyocardial biopsy in patients with severe findings revealed active lymphocytic inflammation. Native T1 and T2 were the measures with the best discriminatory ability to detect COVID-19-related myocardial pathology. Conclusions and relevance: In this study of a cohort of German patients recently recovered from COVID-19 infection, CMR revealed cardiac involvement in 78 patients (78%) and ongoing myocardial inflammation in 60 patients (60%), independent of preexisting conditions, severity and overall course of the acute illness, and time from the original diagnosis. These findings indicate the need for ongoing investigation of the long-term cardiovascular consequences of COVID-19. 

Retracted: No

PubPeer comments:
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