Cardiac Involvement in COVID-19-Assessment with Echocardiography and Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Riccardo Cau; Pierpaolo Bassareo; Luca Saba

doi:10.1007/s42399-020-00344-7

Cardiac Involvement in COVID-19-Assessment with Echocardiography and Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging

SN Compr Clin Med. 2020;2(7):845-851. doi: 10.1007/s42399-020-00344-7. Epub 2020 Jun 10.

Authors

Riccardo Cau¹, Pierpaolo Bassareo², Luca Saba¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Radiology, Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria (A.O.U.), di Cagliari - Polo di Monserrato s.s. 554, 09045 Monserrato, Cagliari Italy.
² Mater Misericordiae University Hospital and Our Lady's Children's Hospital, University College of Dublin, Crumlin, Dublin, Republic of Ireland.

Abstract

The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), started at the beginning of December 2019, in Wuhan, Hubei, China. Since then, the disease has been spreading quickly all over the world with dramatic consequences for global health. That is the reason why it was declared pandemic since March 11th, 2020. The clinical presentation of SARS-CoV-2 is quite variable. Respiratory symptoms dominate its clinical manifestations, but based on current observations, it can significantly affect the heart as well, thus leading to myocardial injury. Imaging plays a key role in the cardiovascular management of these patients, with the aim of improving their outcomes. This review article provides an overview as to strengths and weaknesses of cardiac magnetic resonance compared with echocardiography in the difficult management of these patients.

Keywords: COVID-19; Cardiac magnetic resonance; Echocardiography; Imaging; Myocardial injury; Myocarditis; SARS-COV-2.

Publication types

Review