[ad_1]
Heart problems in children who develop the rare inflammatory disease linked to COVID-19 resolve within months, a new study suggests.
Researchers looked at 45 young people diagnosed with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), a disease in which different parts of the body become inflamed.
The majority had some level of heart dysfunction which included serious problems including worsening of the heart’s ability to pump properly and leaky heart valves.
However, within four months, all of the pediatric patients saw their heart problems resolve and biomarkers fall back to normal levels.
The team, from Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and NewYork-Presbyterian, say the results suggest that children with fluke are recovering from the disease without sustaining long-term heart damage.
A new study looked at 45 children in New York City diagnosed with MIS-C, a condition in which different parts of the body become inflamed related to COVID-19, most of whom had some type of heart problem. Pictured: A five-year-old in a hospital bed at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, New York, May 2020
Heart issues and inflammatory biomarkers began to drop within four weeks of discharge, and within four months all heart issues and biomarkers had fallen to normal levels (above with shaded gray indicating normal levels )
“We have learned that COVID causes a range of illnesses in children. Some are asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic, and a small number of children who develop MIS-C become seriously ill, requiring admission to the ICU, ”said first author Dr. Kanwal Farooqi, assistant professor of pediatrics at Columbia University. Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.
“It is a relief that this study shows that most of the serious cardiac and immunologic manifestations that we have seen in children with MIS-C resolve quickly.”
MIS-C was originally thought to be linked to Kawasaki disease, a disease that causes inflammation of the walls of blood vessels and primarily affects children under the age of five.
Cases were first reported in Britain, Italy and Spain in April 2020 and started to appear in the United States in May.
A total of 4,196 cases have been confirmed across the country and at least 37 children have died, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The majority of children and adolescents develop MIS-C between two and four weeks after becoming infected with the coronavirus.
Not all of the children who developed the disease tested positive for the coronavirus, but 98% did – enough for doctors to believe the conditions are related.
For the study, published in Pediatrics, the team examined 45 children at New York-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital.
Almost 80% of the children in the study have some level of heart dysfunction, which means something was wrong with their hearts.
About half had moderate to severe heart abnormalities with problems such as a decreased ability of the heart to pump properly, leaky heart valves, and dilation of the coronary arteries – that is, when the artery which supplies the heart with oxygenated blood is enlarged.
Most of the children showed an increase in inflammatory biomarkers, including those specifically linked to heart damage.
“These kids were pretty sick, but in our hospital, where we started using steroids and other treatments for MIS-C regularly, most patients responded quickly and were discharged after about five days. “said Farooqi.
Most children saw their heart abnormalities and biomarkers return to normal within weeks of leaving the hospital.
Within four months of discharge, all of the children had their heart problems resolved and the biomarkers fell within normal limits.
“It is reassuring that our cardiac and immunological findings are similar to those reported in a recent retrospective study of children hospitalized in the UK with MIS-C,” said Farooqi.
Because there are no long-term data on children with MIS-C, the team recommends that children have a cardiac MRI at six months and be cleared by a pediatrician before playing sports.
[ad_2]
Source link