How to perform a cardio-thoracic magnetic resonance imaging in COVID-19: Comprehensive assessment of heart, pulmonary arteries, and lung parenchyma

Abstract

We proposed a combined cardiothoracic-MRI (CaTh-MRI) protocol for the comprehensive assessment of cardiovascular structures, lung parenchyma, and pulmonary arterial tree, in COVID-19 patients with progressive worsening of clinical conditions and/or suspicion of acute-onset myocardial inflammation. A 25-minutes fast protocol was also conceived for unstable or uncooperative patients by restricting the number of sequences to those necessary to rule out myocardial and to assess pulmonary involvement. In patients requiring CMR characterization of myocardial damage, the addition of lung and thoracic vessel evaluation is of clinical benefit at a minimal time expense.