Myocardial inflammation can be seen in a small proportion of patients who have recovered from mild COVID-19 infection, suggests a new study published online in JAMA Cardiology.

A total of 47 individuals, with a mean age of 43 years, were included in the study. All the participants had recently recovered from COVID-19 infection. Majority of the participants had had relatively mild COVID, and 85% of them did not require hospital admission. Cardiac imaging was performed a mean of 67 days following the diagnosis of COVID-19. At the time of imaging, 19 subjects (40%) had at least one cardiac symptom, such as palpitations, chest pain, and shortness of breath. Eight participants (17%) had focal FDG uptake on PET compatible with myocardial inflammation. In comparison with those who did not have FDG uptake, participants with focal FDG uptake also had the following findings:

• greater regional T2, T1, and extracellular volume
• higher prevalence of late gadolinium enhancement, pointing to fibrosis
• lower left ventricular ejection fraction
• worse global longitudinal and circumferential strain
• higher levels of inflammatory blood markers, including interleukin (IL)-6, IL- 8, and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein… (Medscape)