What is COVID-19? The ongoing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is caused when an individual is infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This infection can result in pneumonia involving the small airways and alveoli (the tiny air sacs at the end of the airways that help oxygen get into the blood). COVID-19 can cause damage to the lungs, making it hard to breathe without medical help. To understand what is happening to a patient's lungs, doctors may use imaging tests such as chest x-rays or CT Scans (computed tomography). However, these types of tests may not tell the Investigators the whole story.~What is the purpose of the study? Led by The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), this study is being done to determine if MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans can tell the Investigators more about the lungs of people who had COVID-19. The Investigators will use a special type of MRI where participants breathe in a special gas (hyperpolarized xenon-129) before they have the MRI. This gas will help the Investigators to see' the lungs. The advantage of MRI scans is that there is no radiation involved in these types of images.~What is involved? In this study, participants will have an MRI of their lungs. The Investigators will examine these MRI scans to see if the Investigators can identify any changes in the structure or the function of the lung. If the Investigators do find any changes, they will see how these changes relate to other tests that have been conducted or other parts of the clinical story.~The participants will be asked to come to SickKids for 3 study visits. A fourth visit will be conducted via telephone. These visits will span over 3 years. Each study visit will take about 4 hours. If the participant is unable to attend one of the in-person visits, they will be given the option for a phone/virtual visit instead.
In this study the Investigators aim to deploy UTE and HP 129Xe MRI for structural and functional evaluation of persistent lung abnormalities in COVID-19 survivors.