Post-COVID-19 Inflammatory Syndrome Severely Damages Children’s Hearts: A Study

Houston, Sept. 6: A study of inflammatory syndromes in children thought to be associated with COVID-19 is so cardiac that some children require lifelong monitoring and intervention, according to a study review It may cause damage.
A study, published in the journal EClinical Medicine, evaluated a case study of more than 600 multisystem inflammatory syndromes in children (MIS-C) and at first glance without warning for 3 or 4 weeks from subclinical COVID-19 infection. He revealed that the symptoms appear in healthy children.
“According to the literature, children did not have to exhibit the classic upper respiratory symptoms of COVID-19 in order to develop the dreaded MIS-C,” said co-author of the study at the Health Science Center at the University of Texas San Antonio. Alvaro Moreira in United States.
“The children may be asymptomatic, no one might know they were sick, and after a few weeks, they might develop this exaggerated inflammation in the body. Moreira added.
In this study, scientists reviewed 662 MIS-C cases reported worldwide from January 1 to July 25, with 71% of children admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU). I have found that.
They said that 60% of children had an exacerbated immune response, with an average hospital stay of 7.9 days.
According to scientists, all 662 children had fever, 73.7% had abdominal pain or diarrhea, and 68.3% had vomiting.
They stated that 90% had an echocardiography (EKG) cardiac scan and found 54% of the results were abnormal.
The study states that more than one-fifth of the children needed a ventilator and 11 children died.
“This is a new childhood disease that is thought to be associated with SARS-CoV-2,” Moreira said.
“It can be fatal because it affects multiple organ systems. Whether it’s the heart, lungs, gastrointestinal system or nervous system, it has so many different aspects It was difficult for the clinician to understand,” he added.
The researchers pointed out that the amount of MIS-C inflammation exceeded the condition in two similar children, indicating a worsening immune response — Kawasaki disease and toxic shock syndrome.
“The benefit of the savings was that it was effective to treat these patients with the therapies commonly used in Kawasaki (immunoglobulin and glucocorticosteroids),” Moreira said.
The study found that most of the 662 children suffered from heart failure, as shown by troponin and other marker molecules in the body used to diagnose heart attacks in adults.
“Approximately 90% (581) of the children had echocardiography because they had prominent cardiac symptoms of such a disease,” Moreira said.
Scientists have discovered dilation of the coronary blood vessels in children — a phenomenon also seen in Kawasaki disease.
They also observed a decrease in ejection fraction. This indicates that the heart has a reduced ability to pump oxygenated blood into the body’s tissues.
The study said that approximately 10 percent of children had coronary aneurysms.
“This is the local stretching or swelling of blood vessels, which can be measured by ultrasound of the heart,” Moreira said.
According to researchers, children with aneurysms are at the highest risk of future events.
“These are children who need significant observation and follow-up with multiple ultrasounds to see if this resolves, or if this is what they have for their rest of their lives. “Moreira said.
The researchers also found that nearly half of patients with MIS-C had underlying disease, and half of them were obese or overweight.
“Generally, in both adults and children, obese patients are seen to have worse results,” Moreira said.
The researchers note that the inflammatory markers of MIS-C are much more aberrant when compared to the original COVID-19 infection.
They gave an example of this abnormality and said that troponin, a molecular marker used to diagnose heart attacks in adults, was 50 times higher than normal levels in children with MIS-C.
“Evidence suggests that children with MIS-C have significant inflammation and potential tissue damage in their hearts. To understand what their effects are in the long term, we suggest Must be tracked carefully.” (PTI)