Profile of Cardiac Involvement in Children After Exposure to COVID-19

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the incidence and pattern of cardiac involvement in children post-COVID (coronavirus disease) infection in a tertiary care referral hospital in India. METHODS: A prospective observational study was conducted including all consecutive children with suspected MIS-C referred to the cardiology services. RESULTS: Of the 111 children with mean (SD) age 3.5 (3.6) years, 95.4% had cardiac involvement. Abnormalities detected were coronary vasculopathy, pericardial effusion, valvular regurgitation, ventricular dysfunction, diastolic flow reversal in aorta, pulmonary hypertension, bradycardia and intracardiac thrombus. The survival rate post treatment was 99%. Early and short-term follow-up data was available in 95% and 70%, respectively. Cardiac parameters improved in the majority. CONCLUSION: Cardiac involvement post COVID-19 is often a silent entity and may be missed unless specifically evaluated for. Early echocardiography aids in prompt diagnosis, triaging, and treatment, and may help in favorable outcomes.