Department of Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia.
Sports Health. 2024 Sep-Oct;16(5):744-749. doi: 10.1177/19417381231212470. Epub 2023 Nov 19.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has significantly impacted National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) athletics, with specific concerns for cardiac involvement after infection. Pericardial abnormalities have been seen in up to 39.5% of athletes after COVID-19 infection, while myocardial involvement has been reported at a lower rate of 2.7%. To date, myocardial injury has been seen in 0.6% to 0.7% of athletes when using symptom screening and imaging as clinically indicated, which increases to 2.3% to 3.0% when all athletes with COVID-19 undergo cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging.
This study will examine whether there exists an ideal time from positive COVID-19 results to obtaining imaging to increase the likelihood of finding abnormalities.
Prospective cohort study.
Level 3.
NCAA athletes at West Virginia University who were found to be COVID-19 positive on routine screening were required to undergo echocardiography (ECG) and CMR. These data were reviewed by cardiology and determined to be normal or abnormal. Statistical analysis with logistic regression and descriptive statistics was performed to evaluate whether a time existed where abnormalities on imaging were most likely to be found.
A total of 41 athletes were included in this study. ECG was performed earlier on average than CMR imaging, at 18.2 days versus 27.5 days. No significant difference was found in timing from COVID-19 infection diagnosis and abnormalities seen on imaging for either ECG or CMR imaging.
The risk of cardiac involvement in athletes in the setting of COVID-19 has already been documented. This study suggests that imaging timing is independent of cardiac involvement with no correlation to specific time periods where more abnormalities may be found. However, CMR imaging showing changes at day 54 after infection suggests cardiac findings can be seen months after imaging.
Cardiac imaging for athletes after contracting COVID-19 does not show a significant relationship to time of imaging. However, given the cardiac involvement seen months after diagnosis, further examination of prolonged cardiac effects must be carried out.
2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）对美国全国大学体育协会（NCAA）的体育运动产生了重大影响，尤其关注感染后的心脏受累情况。多达 39.5%的 COVID-19 感染后运动员出现心包异常，而心肌受累的报告率较低，为 2.7%。迄今为止，当根据临床指征使用症状筛查和影像学检查时，运动员中仅 0.6%至 0.7%出现心肌损伤，而当所有 COVID-19 运动员均接受心脏磁共振（CMR）成像检查时，这一比例增加至 2.3%至 3.0%。
本研究旨在探讨从 COVID-19 检测结果阳性到进行影像学检查以增加发现异常的可能性的理想时间是否存在。
前瞻性队列研究。
3 级。
西弗吉尼亚大学的 NCAA 运动员在常规筛查中发现 COVID-19 阳性时，需接受超声心动图（ECG）和 CMR 检查。这些数据由心脏病学专家进行复查，确定正常或异常。采用逻辑回归和描述性统计进行统计学分析，以评估是否存在影像学上最有可能发现异常的时间。
共有 41 名运动员纳入本研究。ECG 的检查时间平均早于 CMR 成像，分别为 18.2 天和 27.5 天。ECG 和 CMR 成像在 COVID-19 感染诊断时间和影像学异常方面均未发现显著差异。
COVID-19 运动员的心脏受累风险已有相关报道。本研究表明，影像学检查的时机与心脏受累无关，与可能发现更多异常的特定时间段无相关性。然而，CMR 成像显示在感染后 54 天出现变化，提示心脏检查结果可能在影像学检查后数月才出现。
COVID-19 运动员接受心脏影像学检查与影像学检查时间无显著关系。然而，鉴于在诊断后数月仍存在心脏受累情况，必须进一步检查心脏的长期影响。
