Changes in subclinical cardiac abnormalities 1 Year after recovering from COVID-19 in patients without clinical cardiac findings

Haitao Wang; Wei Deng; Yang Zhang; Jinxiu Yang; Zhen Wang; Bin Liu; Yuchi Han; Yongqiang Yu; Ren Zhao; Xiaohu Li

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e27380

Changes in subclinical cardiac abnormalities 1 Year after recovering from COVID-19 in patients without clinical cardiac findings

Heliyon. 2024 Mar 5;10(5):e27380. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e27380. eCollection 2024 Mar 15.

Authors

Haitao Wang¹, Wei Deng², Yang Zhang³, Jinxiu Yang², Zhen Wang², Bin Liu², Yuchi Han⁴, Yongqiang Yu², Ren Zhao⁵, Xiaohu Li²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Radiology, No.2 People's Hospital of Fuyang City, Fuyang, Anhui, China.
² Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Research Center of Clinical Medical Imaging, Anhui Province Clinical Image Quality Control Center, Hefei, Anhui Province, No. 218 Jixi Road, Hefei, 230022, China.
³ Department of Radiology, Fuyang People's Hospital, Fuyang, 236015, Anhui Province, China.
⁴ Cardiovascular Division, Wexner Medical Center, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University Medical Center, Columbus, OH, USA.
⁵ Department of Cardiology The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University,Anhui, China.

Abstract

Aim: To evaluate the subclinical cardiac involvement in COVID-19 patients without clinical cardiac evidence using cardiac MR imaging.

Material and methods: Participants recovered from COVID-19 without cardiac symptoms and no cardiovascular medical history were enrolled in a prospective cohort study. They underwent baseline cardiac MR and follow-up cardiac MR > 300 days after discharge (n = 20). The study also included healthy controls (n = 20). Extracellular volume fraction (ECV), native T1, and 2D strain data were assessed and compared.

Results: The ECV values of participants at baseline [30.0% (28.3%-32.5%)] and at follow-up [31.0% (28.0%-32.8%)] were increased compared to the healthy control group [27.0% (25.3%-28.0%)] (both p < 0.001). However, the ECV increase from baseline cardiac MR to follow-up cardiac MR was not significant (p = 0.378). There was a statistically significant difference in global native T1 between baseline [1140 (1108.3-1192.0) ms] and follow-up [1176.0 (1113.0-1206.3) ms] (p = 0.016). However, no native T1 difference was found between the healthy controls [1160.7 (1119.6-1195.4) ms] and the baseline (p = 0.394) or follow-up group (p = 0.168). The global T2 was 41(40-42) ms at follow-up which was within the normal range. In addition, We found a recovery in 2D GLS among COVID-19 participants between baseline and follow-up [-12.4(-11.7 to -14.3)% vs. -17.2(-16.2 to -18.3)%; p＜0.001].

Conclusion: Using cardiac MR myocardial tissue and strain imaging parameters, 35% of people without cardiac symptoms or clinical evidence of myocardial injury still had subclinical myocardial tissue characteristic abnormalities at 300 days, but 2D GLS had recovered.