Cardiac Manifestations in Children with SARS-COV-2 Infection: 1-Year Pediatric Multicenter Experience
Nicoletta Cantarutti,
Virginia Battista,
Rachele Adorisio,
Marianna Cicenia,
Claudia Campanello,
Elisa Listo,
Andrea Campana,
Gianluca Trocchio,
Fabrizio Drago
Affiliations
Nicoletta Cantarutti
Cardiology and Arrhythmias Complex Unit, Department of Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, IRCCS, 00165 Rome, Italy
Virginia Battista
Cardiology and Arrhythmias Complex Unit, Department of Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, IRCCS, 00165 Rome, Italy
Rachele Adorisio
Cardiology and Arrhythmias Complex Unit, Department of Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, IRCCS, 00165 Rome, Italy
Marianna Cicenia
Cardiology and Arrhythmias Complex Unit, Department of Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, IRCCS, 00165 Rome, Italy
Claudia Campanello
Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophtalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health (DINOGMI), Istituto Giannina Gaslini, University of Genoa, IRCCS, 16100 Genoa, Italy
Elisa Listo
Department of Health Sciences DiSSal, University of Genoa, Ospedale-Policlinico San Martino, IRCCS, 16100 Genoa, Italy
Andrea Campana
Academic Department of Pediatrics, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, IRCCS, 00165 Rome, Italy
Gianluca Trocchio
Cardiology Unit, Istituto Giannina Gaslini, 16100 Genoa, Italy
Fabrizio Drago
Cardiology and Arrhythmias Complex Unit, Department of Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, IRCCS, 00165 Rome, Italy
Since the spread of COVID-19, pediatric patients were initially considered less affected by SARS-COV-2, but current literature reported subsets of children with multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C). This study aims to describe the cardiac manifestation of SARS-COV-2 infection in a large cohort of children admitted to two Italian pediatric referral centers. Between March 2020 and March 2021, we performed a cardiac evaluation in 294 children (mean age 9 ± 5.9 years, male 60%) with active or previous SARS-COV-2 infection. Twenty-six showed ECG abnormalities: 63 repolarization anomalies, 13 Long QTc, five premature ventricular beats, two non-sustained ventricular tachycardia, and one atrial fibrillation. In total, 146 patients underwent cardiac biomarkers: NT-proBNP was elevated in 57, troponin in 34. An echocardiogram was performed in 98, showing 54 cardiac anomalies: 27 left-ventricular dysfunction, 42 pericarditis, 16 coronaritis. MIS-C was documented in 46 patients (mean age 9 ± 4.8 years, male 61%) with cardiac manifestations in 97.8%: 27 ventricular dysfunctions, 32 pericarditis, 15 coronaritis, 3 arrhythmias. All patients recovered, and during follow-up, no cardiac anomalies were recorded. Our experience showed that cardiac involvement is not rare in children with SARS-COV-2, and occurred in almost all patients with MIS-C. However, patients’ recovery is satisfactory and no additional events were reported during FU.
