129 Xe MRI ventilation defects in ever-hospitalised and never-hospitalised people with post-acute COVID-19 syndrome

Patients often report persistent symptoms beyond the acute infectious phase of COVID-19. Hyperpolarised Xe MRI provides a way to directly measure airway functional abnormalities; the clinical relevance of Xe MRI ventilation defects in ever-hospitalised and never-hospitalised patients who had COVID-19 has not been ascertained. It remains unclear if persistent symptoms beyond the infectious phase are related to small airways disease and ventilation heterogeneity. Hence, we measured Xe MRI ventilation defects, pulmonary function and symptoms in ever-hospitalised and never-hospitalised patients who had COVID-19 with persistent symptoms consistent with post-acute COVID-19 syndrome (PACS). Consenting participants with a confirmed diagnosis of PACS completed Xe MRI, CT, spirometry, multi-breath inert-gas washout, 6-minute walk test, St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), modified Medical Research Council (mMRC) dyspnoea scale, modified Borg scale and International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Consenting ever-COVID volunteers completed Xe MRI and pulmonary function tests only. Seventy-six post-COVID and nine never-COVID participants were evaluated. Ventilation defect per cent (VDP) was abnormal and significantly greater in ever-COVID as compared with never-COVID participants (p