Key result
Routine use of cardiovascular magnetic resonance for screening COVID-19 convalescent athletes before return-to-play is not supported by current evidence and should be based on clinical indication.
Why the study?
Reports showed a wide range of prevalence of inflammatory heart diseases in COVID-19 convalescent athletes, opening debate around the best screening strategy and the role of routine CMR before return-to-play.
Does routine cardiovascular magnetic resonance screening improve the detection of inflammatory heart disease in COVID-19 convalescent elite athletes before return-to-play?
Does routine cardiovascular magnetic resonance screening improve the detection of inflammatory heart disease in COVID-19 convalescent elite athletes before return-to-play?
Routine cardiovascular magnetic resonance screening is not recommended for COVID-19 convalescent athletes before return-to-play and should be reserved for those with clinical indications.
Clinicians should limit CMR to symptomatic post-COVID athletes; leaves open need for prospective studies on targeted screening.
Recent reports based on cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) showed a wide range of prevalence of inflammatory heart diseases in COVID-19 convalescent athletes ranging from 0.4 up to 15%. These observations had an important impact in the field of sport cardiology opening an intense debate around the best possible screening strategy before the return-to-play. The diagnostic yield of CMR for detecting acute inflammatory disease is undebatable. However, the opportunity to use it in the screening protocol after COVID-19 has been questioned. Current evidence does not seem to support the routine use of CMR and the prescription of CMR should be based upon clinical indication.
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Filomena et al. (2021) conducted a review in COVID-19 convalescent athletes. Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) screening was evaluated on Prevalence of inflammatory heart diseases. Routine use of cardiovascular magnetic resonance for screening COVID-19 convalescent athletes before return-to-play is not supported by current evidence and should be based on clinical indication.
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