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Updated: Oct 21, 2025

In Vivo Quantitative Assessment of Myocardial Structure, Function, Perfusion and Viability Using Cardiac Micro-computed Tomography
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Published on: February 16, 2016

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Myocardial perfusion SPECT findings in postCOVID period

Mine Araz1, Çiğdem Soydal2, Gizem Sütçü2

  • 1Department of Nuclear Medicine, Ankara University Medical School, Ankara, Turkey. minesoylu@yahoo.com.

European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
|September 7, 2021
PubMed

Insights

COVID-19 survivors show increased risk of myocardial ischemia and need for cardiac interventions. Myocardial perfusion scans (MPS) are reliable for assessing cardiovascular symptoms post-COVID-19.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Public Health

Background:

  • COVID-19 infection can impact cardiovascular health.
  • Long-term effects of COVID-19 on the heart are still being investigated.
  • Understanding post-COVID-19 cardiac complications is crucial for patient management.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine if COVID-19 infection increases the risk of myocardial ischemia on myocardial perfusion scans (MPS).
  • To assess if COVID-19 survivors require more coronary angiographies (CAG).
  • To evaluate the necessity for invasive treatments (stent implantation, CABG) or medical therapy in COVID-19 patients.

Main Methods:

  • A study group of patients with symptomatic COVID-19 (PCR positive) within 6 months underwent MPS.
  • A control group of age- and gender-matched patients, who underwent MPS before the pandemic (Jan 2019-Sep 2019), was selected.
  • Frequencies of ischemia, CAG, and treatments were compared between the COVID-19 group and the control group.

Main Results:

  • Ischemia was significantly more frequent in the COVID-19 group (p < 0.001).
  • The need for invasive evaluation (CAG) and treatment (medical or invasive) was higher in the COVID-19 group, regardless of MPS results (p=0.006 and p=0.015).
  • This trend persisted for patients with abnormal MPS results but not for those with ischemia.

Conclusions:

  • COVID-19 infection is associated with a significant increase in myocardial ischemia, CAG procedures, and cardiac treatments.
  • Myocardial perfusion scan (MPS) is a reliable tool for evaluating cardiovascular symptoms in patients with a history of COVID-19.
Abstract

Keywords:
COVID-19IschemiaPerfusionRadionuclide imaging

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