Thursday, December 5 | 1:30 p.m.-1:40 p.m. | R6-SSNMMI08-1 | Room S405
A PET/MRI study by a group in Germany in this session suggests that the modality holds promise in evaluating myocardial injury in long COVID patients. The approach not only detected injury but also helped differentiate between chronic active and healed myocardial injury, the group noted.
Presenter Patrick Krumm, MD, of University of Tubingen, and colleagues enrolled 26 patients presenting with persistent symptoms since the onset of COVID-19 infection, with a median symptom duration of 7.5 months and a mean age of 39 ± 12 years (50% female). Patients underwent PET/MRI, with the cardiac MRI protocol comprised of T1 and T2 mapping, assessment of myocardial function, and late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) imaging. The PET protocol allowed the researchers to simultaneously quantify myocardial F-18 FDG radiotracer uptake.
Chronic active myocardial injury was assumed if both PET and cardiac MRI findings were positive, healed myocardial injury if PET was negative but cardiac MRI findings were positive, and no myocardial injury if patients were cardiac MRI-negative, regardless of PET findings.
Chronic active myocardial injury with focal F-18 FDG uptake was diagnosed in nine (35%) patients, healed myocardial injury in eight (30%) patients, and no myocardial injury in nine (35%) patients. In addition, F-18 FDG uptake was significantly higher in patients with chronic active myocardial injury versus those with healed or no myocardial injury. Non-ischemic LGE was present in eight (31%) patients, while T1 mapping abnormalities were observed in 16 (62%) patients and T2 mapping abnormalities in 15 (58%) patients, the group found.
“Combined [cardiac] MR/FDG-PET holds promise in evaluating myocardial injury in long COVID, potentially guiding management decisions and long-term monitoring strategies,” the group concluded.
