Open AccessPatterns of myocardial involvement in children during COVID-19 pandemic: Early experience from northern Italy
Author(s) -
Paolo Ferrero,
Isabelle Piazza,
Cecilia Bonino,
Matteo Ciuffreda
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
annals of pediatric cardiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.292
H-Index - 19
eISSN - 0974-2069
pISSN - 0974-5149
DOI - 10.4103/apc.apc_77_20
Subject(s) - medicine , kawasaki disease , myocarditis , pandemic , covid-19 , disease , population , acute myocarditis , viral myocarditis , pediatrics , cardiology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , environmental health , artery
There is limited information about coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the pediatric population. Preliminary data suggest a not insignificant prevalence of cardiac involvement. Here, we report our early experience with COVID-19 in the pediatric population. These patients display exceptionally high levels of acute-phase reactants. The clinical syndrome in these patients is somewhat similar to Kawasaki disease with or without myocardial involvement. In some cases, the presentation mimics typical myocarditis. Severe myocardial involvement is associated with transient electrocardiographic and echocardiographic abnormalities. These findings may be due to the cardiotropic nature of the virus or may be the result of an immunologic response to the infection.