Transformative Effect of COVID-19 Pandemic on Magnetic Resonance Imaging Services in One Tertiary Cardiovascular Center

Figures

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  Figure 1. Percentage of CE-CMR studies among all MRI studies in one tertiary cardiovascular center year-by-year. * p-value < 0.05, CE-CMR: contrast-enhanced cardiac MRI.

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  Figure 2. Distribution of cardiac pathologies in male and female patients who underwent CE-CMR studies in one tertiary cardiovascular center during COVID-19 pandemic. AMI—acute myocardial infarction, EF—ejection fraction, ICMP—ischemic cardiomyopathy, HCMP—hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, PICS—postinfarction cardiosclerosis. Horizontal axis corresponds to the number of patients. * p-value < 0.05 for sex-related difference. § p-value < 0.05 for significant difference in the incidence compared with the pre-pandemic year (2019). # p-value < 0.05 for significant difference in the incidence compared with the previous year (2021 vs. 2020).

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  Figure 3. Age distribution of patients who received CE-CMR studies in one tertiary cardiovascular center during COVID-19 pandemic. Vertical axis corresponds to the number of patients. Horizontal axis corresponds to the age groups. § p-value < 0.05 for significant difference in absolute number compared with the pre-pandemic year (2019). # p-value < 0.05 for significant difference in the incidence compared with the previous year. * p-value < 0.05 for the highest increment in the number compared with other age groups.

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  Figure 4. Distribution of cardiovascular diseases in patients who received CE-CMR studies in one tertiary cardiovascular center during COVID-19 pandemic. § p-value < 0.05 compared with the incidence in the pre-pandemic year (2019). # p-value < 0.05 compared with the incidence in the previous year (2021 vs. 2020).

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  Figure 5. Contrast-enhanced cardiac magnetic resonance imaging in a patient with history of COVID-19 and three Lake Louise criteria of myocardial inflammation: edema, hyperemia, and fibrosis. White arrows indicate (a) edema (T2-weighted image), (b) hyperemia of the left ventricular inferior wall (early post-contrast enhancement on T1-weighted image), and (c) fibrosis (late contrast enhancement in inversion recovery mode).

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  Figure 6. Pericardial effusion, cardiac chamber dilatation, and decline in the left ventricular (VL) contractility in the group of patients with fibrotic dystrophy changes. Darker sectors correspond to the proportion of patients who had these changes.

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  Figure 7. Trends in diagnostic imaging procedures during COVID-19 pandemic. (A) Number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the region month-by-month. (B) Number of MRI studies performed during COVID-19 pandemic in one tertiary cardiovascular center. (C) Number of CE-CMR studies. (D) Percentage of CE-CMR studies among all MRI studies. Red lines indicate the corresponding linear trends.