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. 2022 May 12;19(10):5898.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph19105898.

COVID-19 Myocarditis: Prognostic Role of Bedside Speckle-Tracking Echocardiography and Association with Total Scar Burden

Antonello D'Andrea  1   2 , Luigi Cante  1 , Stefano Palermi  3 , Andreina Carbone  1 , Federica Ilardi  4 , Francesco Sabatella  1 , Fabio Crescibene  5 , Marco Di Maio  6 , Francesco Giallauria  4 , Giancarlo Messalli  7 , Vincenzo Russo  1 , Eduardo Bossone  8
Affiliations

COVID-19 Myocarditis: Prognostic Role of Bedside Speckle-Tracking Echocardiography and Association with Total Scar Burden

Antonello D'Andrea et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

SARS-CoV2 infection, responsible for the COVID-19 disease, can determine cardiac as well as respiratory injury. In COVID patients, viral myocarditis can represent an important cause of myocardial damage. Clinical presentation of myocarditis is heterogeneous. Furthermore, the full diagnostic algorithm can be hindered by logistical difficulties related to the transportation of COVID-19 patients in a critical condition to the radiology department. Our aim was to study longitudinal systolic cardiac function in patients with COVID-19-related myocarditis with echocardiography and to compare these findings with cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) results. Patients with confirmed acute myocarditis and age- and gender-matched healthy controls were enrolled. Both patients with COVID-19-related myocarditis and healthy controls underwent standard transthoracic echocardiography and speckle-tracking analysis at the moment of admission and after 6 months of follow-up. The data of 55 patients with myocarditis (mean age 46.4 ± 15.3, 70% males) and 55 healthy subjects were analyzed. The myocarditis group showed a significantly reduced global longitudinal strain (GLS) and sub-epicardial strain, compared to the control (p < 0.001). We found a positive correlation (r = 0.65, p < 0.0001) between total scar burden (TSB) on CMR and LV GLS. After 6 months of follow-up, GLS showed marked improvements in myocarditis patients on optimal medical therapy (p < 0.01). Furthermore, we showed a strong association between baseline GLS, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and TSB with LVEF at 6 months of follow-up. After a multivariable linear regression analysis, baseline GLS, LVEF and TSB were independent predictors of a functional outcome at follow-up (p < 0.0001). Cardiac function and myocardial longitudinal deformation, assessed by echocardiography, are associated with TSB at CMR and have a predictive value of functional recovery in the follow-up.

Keywords: COVID-19; cardiac magnetic resonance; myocarditis; speckle-tracking echocardiography; total scar burden.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Panel (A) 17-segment bull’s-eye representation of LV strain in a patient with COVID-related myocarditis. Myocardial deformation (GLS—13%) was moderately impaired, especially in the lateral wall. Panels (B,C): cardiac MRI of the same patient, showing presence of myocardial edema in the stir T2-weighted sequence (Panel B) and of sub-epicardial scar tissue in lateral wall (Panel C) by LGE analysis.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Scatter plot of negative correlation (r = −0.4, p < 0.01) between TSB (total scar burden) and baseline LVEF (left ventricular ejection fraction) in patients with myocarditis.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Scatter plot of positive correlation (r = 0.65, p < 0.0001) between TSB (total scar burden) and baseline LVGLS (left ventricular global longitudinal strain) in patients with myocarditis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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