Background: Myocarditis is a potential complication after severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and a known cause of sudden cardiac death. Given the athletic demands of soldiers, identification of myocarditis and characterization of post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection with cardiovascular symptoms (CV PASC) may be critical to guide return-to-service. This study sought to evaluate the spectrum of cardiac involvement among soldiers with cardiopulmonary symptoms in the late convalescent phase of recovery from SARS-CoV-2 compared to a healthy soldier control group, and to determine the rate of progression to CV PASC.
Methods: All soldiers referred for cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging for cardiopulmonary symptoms following COVID-19 were enrolled and matched by age, gender, and athletic phenotype 1:1 to soldiers undergoing CMR in the year prior to the first case of COVID-19 at our institution. Demographic, clinical, laboratory, and imaging parameters were compared between groups. The diagnosis of acute myocarditis was made using modified Lake Louise criteria. Wilcoxon rank sum and chi-squared tests were used for comparison of continuous and categorical variables, respectively.
Results: Fifty soldier cases and 50 healthy soldier controls were included. The median time from SARS-CoV-2 detection to CMR was 71 days. The majority of cases experienced moderate symptoms (N = 43, 86%), while only 10% required hospitalization. The right ventricular (RV) ejection fraction (RVEF) was reduced in soldier cases compared to controls (51.0% vs. 53.2%, p = 0.012). Four cases were diagnosed with myocarditis (8%), 1 (2%) was diagnosed with Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, and 1 (2%) had new biventricular systolic dysfunction of unclear etiology. Isolated inferior RV septal insertion late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) was present in 8 cases and 8 controls (16% vs. 24%, p = 0.09). Seven of the 19 (37%) cases that completed an intermediate-term follow-up survey reported CV PASC at a median of 139 days of follow-up. Two of the 7 soldiers (29%) with CV PASC had a pathological clinical diagnosis (myocarditis) on CMR.
Conclusions: Cardiovascular pathology was diagnosed in 6 symptomatic soldiers (12%) after recovery from SARS-CoV-2, with myocarditis found in 4 (8%). RVEF was reduced in soldier cases compared to controls. CV PASC occurred in over one-third of soldiers surveyed, but did not occur in any soldiers with asymptomatic acute SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Keywords: Athletes; COVID-19; Myocarditis; Return-to-service; Soldiers; Sports Cardiology.
© 2021. The Author(s).