Mechanisms underlying dyspnea in non-hospitalized patients with persistent post-COVID is unknown. Lung perfusion abnormalities have been reported in acute COVID-19, and may also be important in post-COVID. Dynamic contrast enhanced (DCE)-MRI [MS1] was applied to study lung perfusion in 28 non-hospitalized patients with persistent dyspnea 4-13 months post-COVID. Time-to-peak (TTP)[MS2] maps were numerically summarized as normalized as 2 numeric values: mean TTP and TTP ratio. Comparison was made against 22 age and sex matched controls. Perfusion abnormalities were found, with a striking sex difference with men showing more pronounced perfusion abnormalities. Perfusion abnormalities correlated with self-rated dyspnea in men.
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