Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 9, 2025
Lung CT Segmentation to Identify Consolidations and Ground Glass Areas for Quantitative Assesment of SARS-CoV Pneumonia
Published on: December 19, 2020
Cardiac abnormalities in Long COVID 1-year post-SARS-CoV-2 infection
Adriana Roca-Fernandez1, Malgorzata Wamil2,3, Alison Telford1
1Perspectum Ltd, Oxford, UK.
Insights
Long COVID can cause persistent cardiac abnormalities, with 19% of patients showing issues at 6 months, and over half of those still affected at 12 months. Cardiac biomarkers did not predict these findings.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Infectious Diseases
- Radiology
Background:
- Long COVID presents with diverse symptoms and multi-organ impairment.
- Cardiac involvement in Long COVID has been noted, but trajectories are unclear.
- Cardiac Magnetic Resonance (CMR) offers a detailed view of cardiac structure and function.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the 12-month progression of cardiac abnormalities in individuals with Long COVID.
- To identify predictors of persistent cardiac issues post-SARS-CoV-2 infection.
- To correlate CMR findings with clinical symptoms and biomarkers.
Main Methods:
- 534 Long COVID patients underwent baseline CMR and multiorgan MRI.
- 330 patients with initial abnormalities were rescanned at 12 months.
- CMR assessed ventricular function, volumes, strain (GLS), and T1 mapping; abnormalities defined by specific criteria.
Main Results:
- 19% of Long COVID patients had baseline CMR abnormalities.
- Of those with abnormalities, 58% showed persistent findings at 12 months.
- Cardiac biomarkers (troponin I, BNP) did not predict CMR abnormalities or outcomes.
Conclusions:
- Cardiac abnormalities are common in Long COVID and can persist for at least a year.
- CMR is crucial for detecting and monitoring cardiac changes in Long COVID.
- Current cardiac biomarkers are insufficient for identifying CMR abnormalities in this population.
Background:
Long COVID is associated with multiple symptoms and impairment in multiple organs. Cross-sectional studies have reported cardiac impairment to varying degrees by varying methodologies. Using cardiac MR (CMR), we investigated a 12-month trajectory of abnormalities in Long COVID.
Objectives:
To investigate cardiac abnormalities 1-year post-SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Methods:
534 individuals with Long COVID underwent CMR (T1/T2 mapping, cardiac mass, volumes, function and strain) and multiorgan MRI at 6 months (IQR 4.3-7.3) since first post-COVID-19 symptoms. 330 were rescanned at 12.6 (IQR 11.4-14.2) months if abnormal baseline findings were reported. Symptoms, questionnaires and blood samples were collected at both time points. CMR abnormalities were defined as ≥1 of low left or right ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), high left or right ventricular end diastolic volume, low 3D left ventricular global longitudinal strain (GLS), or elevated native T1 in ≥3 cardiac segments. Significant change over time was reported by comparison with 92 healthy controls.
Results:
Technical success of multiorgan and CMR assessment in non-acute settings was 99.1% and 99.6% at baseline, and 98.3% and 98.8% at follow-up. Of individuals with Long COVID, 102/534 (19%) had CMR abnormalities at baseline; 71/102 had complete paired data at 12 months. Of those, 58% presented with ongoing CMR abnormalities at 12 months. High sensitivity cardiac troponin I and B-type natriuretic peptide were not predictive of CMR findings, symptoms or clinical outcomes. At baseline, low LVEF was associated with persistent CMR abnormality, abnormal GLS associated with low quality of life and abnormal T1 in at least three segments was associated with better clinical outcomes at 12 months.
Conclusion:
CMR abnormalities (left entricular or right ventricular dysfunction/dilatation and/or abnormal T1mapping), occurred in one in five individuals with Long COVID at 6 months, persisting in over half of those at 12 months. Cardiac-related blood biomarkers could not identify CMR abnormalities in Long COVID.
Trial Registration Number:
NCT04369807.
More Related Videos
14:35Post-Myocardial Infarction Heart Failure in Closed-chest Coronary Occlusion/Reperfusion Model in Göttingen Minipigs and Landrace Pigs
Published on: April 17, 2021
08:25Visualization of Streptococcus pneumoniae within Cardiac Microlesions and Subsequent Cardiac Remodeling
Published on: April 7, 2015
Related Concept Videos
01:27Myocarditis II: Clinical Features and Diagnostic Tests
01:30Cardiomyopathy II: Dilated Cardiomyopathy
01:30Coronary Artery Disease III: Clinical Manifestations
01:30Acute Coronary Syndrome III: Diagnostic Studies
01:29Cardiomyopathy III: Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
01:23Rheumatic Heart Disease I: Introduction