To assess the potential therapeutic role of exercise on health-related quality of life, assessed by the Pediatric Outcomes Data Collection Instrument (PODCI), coronary flow reserve (CFR), cardiac ...function, cardiorespiratory fitness, and inflammatory and cardiac blood markers in multisystemic inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) patients.
This is a case series study of a 12-wk, home-based exercise intervention in children and adolescents after MIS-C diagnosis. From 16 MIS-C patients followed at our clinic, 6 were included (age: 7-16 years; 3 females). Three of them withdrew before the intervention and served as controls. The primary outcome was health-related quality of life, assessed PODCI. Secondary outcomes were CFR assessed by 13N-ammonia PET-CT imaging, cardiac function by echocardiography, cardiorespiratory fitness, and inflammatory and cardiac blood markers.
In general, patients showed poor health-related quality of life, which seemed to be improved with exercise. Additionally, exercised patients showed improvements in coronary flow reserve, cardiac function, and aerobic conditioning. Non-exercised patients exhibited a slower pattern of recovery, particularly in relation to health-related quality of life and aerobic conditioning.
Our results suggest that exercise may play a therapeutic role in the treatment of post-discharge MIS-C patients. As our design does not allow inferring causality, randomized controlled trials are necessary to confirm these preliminary findings.
This study aimed to compare cardiopulmonary fitness and endothelial function 6 months after hospital diagnosis in a sample mainly comprising immunocompromised patients with confirmed severe acute ...respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection versus noninfected controls. Youth (
= 30; age: 14 yr; 60% females) with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 seen in a tertiary hospital of Sao Paulo, Brazil, were matched by propensity score based on BMI, age, sex, and pre-existing diseases with a control group who had not been tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection (
= 30; age: 15 yr; 50% females). Cardiopulmonary fitness (by means of a cardiopulmonary exercise test: CPET) and brachial flow-mediated dilation (%b-FMD) were assessed 3-6 mo after diagnosis. Patients were matched by propensity score based on BMI, age, sex and pre-existing diseases, if any, with a control group who had not been tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. Compared with controls, patients with COVID-19 showed reduced ventilatory anaerobic threshold (VAT) and peak exercise time and minute ventilation/maximum voluntary ventilation (V̇e/MVV) (all
< 0.01). Brachial endothelial function variables were all adjusted for body surface area (BSA). Patients with COVID-19 had decreased %b-FMD (3.6 vs. 5.4;
= 0.03) mean and positive flow (
= 0.02 and
= 0.03, respectively) versus controls. Adjusted linear regression models exploring associations between CPET variables, %b-FMD and the potential predictors post-COVID-19 syndrome, number of symptoms, hospitalization, and COVID severity did not detect significant associations, except for total shear rate in hospitalization (coefficient: -65.07 95%CI -119.5;-10.5,
= 0.02). Immunocompromised and previously healthy children and adolescents with COVID-19 presented with impaired exercise capacity and endothelial dysfunction when compared with their noninfected counterparts, but the mechanisms remain unknown.
COVID-19 appeared to impair recovery of exercise capacity and endothelial function in a sample mainly comprising immunocompromised patients, but the mechanisms are unknown. These findings support the need for preventive measures against COVID-19 in this vulnerable population and suggest the necessity of proper monitoring and treatment for these patients.
•Soluble mediators are valuable tools in COVID-19 diagnosis and prognosis.•sTREM-1 has been described as a predictor of inflammation severity.•sTREM-1 concentrations were markedly higher in MIS-C vs ...non-MIS-C acute patients.•High sTREM-1 concentrations had a significant association with MIS-C development.•IL-6, IL-8, and IL-10 concentrations were higher in the acute phase compared with the convalescent phase, regardless of whether the patient developed MIS-C.•sTREM-1 in pediatric patients has good predictive accuracy as an early screening biomarker to identify MIS-C cases.
The exacerbation of the inflammatory response caused by SARS-CoV-2 in adults promotes the production of soluble mediators that could act as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for COVID-19. Among the potential biomarkers, the soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cell-1 (sTREM-1) has been described as a predictor of inflammation severity. The aim was to evaluate sTREM-1 and cytokine serum concentrations in pediatric patients during the acute and convalescent phases of COVID-19. This was a prospective study that included 53 children/adolescents with acute COVID-19 (Acute-CoV group); 54 who recovered from COVID-19 (Post-CoV group) and 54 controls (Control group). Preexisting chronic conditions were present in the three groups, which were defined as follows: immunological diseases, neurological disorders, and renal and hepatic failures. The three groups were matched by age, sex, and similar preexisting chronic conditions. No differences in sTREM-1 levels were detected among the groups or when the groups were separately analyzed by preexisting chronic conditions. However, sTREM-1 analysis in the seven multisystemic inflammatory syndrome children (MIS-C) within the Acute-Cov group showed that sTREM-1 concentrations were higher in MIS-C vs non-MIS-C acute patients. Then, the receiver operating curve analysis (ROC) performed with MIS-C acute patients revealed a significant AUC of 0.870, and the sTREM-1 cutoff value of > 5781 pg/mL yielded a sensitivity of 71.4 % and a specificity of 91.3 % for disease severity, and patients with sTREM-1 levels above this cutoff presented an elevated risk for MIS-C development in 22.85-fold (OR = 22.85 95 % CI 1.64–317.5, p = 0.02). The cytokine analyses in the acute phase revealed that IL-6, IL-8, and IL-10 concentrations were elevated regardless of whether the patient developed MIS-C, and those levels decreased in the convalescent phase, even when compared with controls. Spearman correlation analysis generated positive indexes between sTREM-1 and IL-12 and TNF-α concentrations, only within the Acute-CoV group. Our findings revealed that sTREM-1 in pediatric patients has good predictive accuracy as an early screening tool for surveillance of MIS-C cases, even in patients with chronic underlying conditions.
This study aims to assess COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses in pediatric patients. Between April 17 and September 30, 2020, we collected 1,566 respiratory samples from 1,044 symptomatic patients ...who were younger than 18 years old to assess SARS-CoV-2 infection. Of these, 919 were analyzed for other respiratory pathogens (ORP). Patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 or ORP were included. We evaluated 76 pediatric COVID-19 infections and 157 other respiratory virus infections. Rhinovirus occurred in 132/157 (84%). COVID-19 patients who were significantly older, had more fevers, headaches and pneumonia than those with ORP. The median white blood cell count was lower in patients with SARS-CoV-2 than in those with ORP (6,470 versus 8,170; p=0.02). COVID-19 patients had significantly worse symptoms than those with ORP.
To prospectively assess health-related quality of life (HRQoL), global functionality, and disability in primary caregivers of surviving children and adolescents after COVID-19.
A longitudinal ...observational study was carried out on primary caregivers of surviving pediatric post-COVID-19 patients (
= 51) and subjects without COVID-19 (
= 60). EuroQol five-dimension five-level questionnaire (EQ-5D-5L) and 12-question WHO Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS 2.0) were answered for both groups. The univariate regression analysis was carried out using SPSS (v 20) and significance was established at 5%.
The median duration between COVID-19 diagnosis in children and adolescents and longitudinal follow-up visits was 4.4 months (0.8-10.7). The median age of children and adolescents caregivers with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 was similar to primary caregivers of subjects without laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 43.2 (31.6-60.9) vs. 41.5 (21.6-54.8) years,
= 0.08, as well as similar female sex (
= 1.00), level of schooling (
= 0.11), social assistance program (
= 0.28), family income/month U$ (
= 0.25) and the number of household's members in the residence (
= 0.68). The frequency of slight to extreme problems (level ≥ 2) of the pain/discomfort domain according to EQ-5D-5L score was significantly higher in the former group 74% vs. 52.5%,
= 0.03, OR = 2.57 (1.14-5.96). The frequency of disability according to WHODAS 2.0 total score was similar to those without disability and unknown (
= 0.79); however, with a very high disability in both groups (72.5% and 78.3%). Further analysis of primary caregivers of children and adolescents with post-COVID-19 condition (PCC)
= 12/51 (23%) compared to those without PCC
= 39/51(77%) revealed no differences between demographic data, EQ-5D-5L and WHODAS 2.0 scores in both groups (
> 0.05).
We longitudinally demonstrated that pain/discomfort were predominantly reported in approximately 75% of primary caregiver of COVID-19 patients, with high disability in approximately three-quarters of both caregiver groups. These data emphasized the prospective and systematic caregiver burden evaluation relevance of pediatric COVID-19.
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