Quick Recovery of Heart Function is Witnessed Among COVID-19 Exposed Children

Children with COVID-19-related MIS-C condition were found to have quick recovery of heart function as per a study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, open access, peer-reviewed journal of the American Heart Association.

Children who are exposed to COVID-19 are identified with a new illness called MIS-C about four to six weeks later. Although the condition resembles Kawasaki disease in its symptoms, it is associated with more profound inflammation of the body parts like the heart, lungs, kidneys, and gastrointestinal organs.

‘Children with COVID-19-related multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C) were found to have recovered heart function within three months.’

Involvement of the heart's left ventricle is seen in almost 80% to 85% of MIS-C cases across the U.S. and Europe.

The team analyzed 60 children hospitalized with MIS-C due to COVID-19 exposure who were treated at two Philadelphia hospitals between April 2020 and January 2021.

It was found that 81% of patients lost some contractile function in the left ventricle during the acute phase of illness, yet, by months three and four, contraction function had returned to normal. Moreover, MIS-C did not cause lasting coronary artery abnormalities.

"Recovery among these children was excellent. These results have important implications for our health care teams managing care for children with MIS-C. Our findings may also provide guidance for a gradual return to playing sports after cardiac clearance three to four months later. Tests needed for clearance include an electrocardiogram and echocardiogram. We also recommend cardiac MRI for children who have highly abnormal baseline cardiac MRI during the acute stage or show evidence of continued severe left ventricle dysfunction," says the study's senior author Anirban Banerjee, MD, a professor of clinical pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine and an attending cardiologist with the Cardiac Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, both in Philadelphia.

Source: Medindia