Chest radiograph in hospitalized children with COVID-19. A review of findings and indications.

PURPOSE: Many articles have been published regarding chest-imaging in COVID-19, but fewer studies have been published in pediatric populations. COVID-19 symptoms in children are generally milder and radiological tests have fewer positive findings. Indications for chest imaging in pediatric COVID-19 patients remain unclear. This study aims to describe the chest radiographs performed in COVID-19 patients in a pediatric hospital, to review the current chest X-ray indications and to develop an specific age-adjusted protocol for chest-imaging in children with COVID-19. METHODS: Retrospective study in hospitalized pediatric COVID-19 patients in Navarre, Spain. Between March and December 2020, 44 children were included (mean age 3.8-year-old, 50 % males). Demographic information, cause of admission, symptoms, and clinical evolution were described. Chest imaging technique performed, indications and findings were analyzed. A literature review was performed searching for current COVID-19 pediatric chest-imaging indications. RESULTS: Chest X-rays were performed in 35 patients (80 % of admissions) and most common indications were fever and respiratory symptoms. 53 % of the chest X-rays were considered "normal" and the classical bilateral diffuse interstitial pattern, described in adults, was only present in 22 %. All patients with pathological chest X-rays were symptomatic and reported fever (100 %) and fever tended to be longer (fever duration: 4.25 vs. 2.46 days p:0.048) in patients with pathological radiographs. We present a specific protocol for chest-imaging in pediatric COVID-19 cases. CONCLUSIONS: COVID-19 clinical manifestations and radiological findings are milder and less specific in children. Imaging should not be used as a screening tool or a routine complementary test in pediatric COVID-19 patients, not even in hospitalized cases.

ECIEN-2020 study: the effect of COVID-19 on admissions for non-COVID-19 diseases.

BACKGROUND: The pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has had great effects on health systems worldwide, not only in relation to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases but also affecting patients with other pathologies. METHODS: ECIEN-2020 is an observational study conducted in a tertiary referral hospital in Navarra, Spain. It describes the effects of COVID-19 pandemic and the preventive measures adopted, in pediatric admissions for non-COVID-19 diseases. Admissions during March-June 2020 (first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain) are described and compared with the same quarter in 2019. A sub-analysis was performed delving into epidemiology. Patient characteristics (age, sex, past medical history), disease characteristics (symptoms, duration of symptoms, previous consultation in Primary Care Health Center), and admission characteristics (place and average stay) were analyzed. RESULTS: A 33% reduction in the number of pediatric hospital admissions was observed, decreasing from 529 hospitalizations in 2019 to 353 in 2020 (P < 0.001). This highlights a 48% reduction in patients admitted for pulmonary diseases. There were no significant changes in average hospital-stay, percentage of intensive care unit admissions, or in admissions for other reasons. Percentage of patients admitted among those seen in the emergency department rose from 5.1% in 2019 to 10.9% in 2020, whereas the total number of consultations in the emergency department decreased by 68%. CONCLUSION: The pandemic and the measures adopted due to SARS-CoV-2 have significantly decreased pediatric admissions for non-COVID-19 diseases, especially due to a reduction in the hospitalization for respiratory diseases.

SARS-CoV-2 infection in children requiring hospitalization: the experience of Navarra, Spain.

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 in children, or pediatric COVID-19, initially was described as an acute respiratory syndrome similar to the adult presentation but with less severe manifestations. METHODS: We describe the clinical characteristics, disease presentation, treatments and outcomes of all pediatric cases with COVID-19 admitted to the reference hospitals in Navarra, Spain during the first wave of the COVID-19 outbreak (February-May 2020). RESULTS: We found a low number of hospitalized cases in infants and children compared to adults with a hospitalization ratio of 1:180. Most of these hospitalized cases did not suffer from severe disease. Over 80% of infections reported household contacts, and the mother was the known-contact in 83% of these cases. 72% of hospitalized cases were previously healthy children. We describe how symptoms in pediatric cases are nonspecific and how COVID-19 can be presented with a wide range and variety of symptoms. Respiratory symptoms are not always present, and severe neurological and cardiac features can occur in previously healthy children. CONCLUSION: Epidemiological description and case reports will be key to a better recognition and to adequate treatment of pediatric patients with COVID-19.

Case Report: Benign Infantile Seizures Temporally Associated With COVID-19.

Background: Non-febrile illness seizures may present in previously healthy children as afebrile seizures associated with minor infections, such as mild gastroenteritis or respiratory tract infections, and are linked to a genetic predisposition. For the novel human coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, causing COVID-19, fever, cough, and gastrointestinal complaints are the most common symptoms in children, and a hyperimmune response may be present. No detailed temporally associated neurological complications have been documented in pediatric case series so far. Case description: We present the case of a 3-months-old girl with non-febrile repeated seizures in a COVID-19 family setting. The infant started with a mild fever and cough that lasted for 2 days. At day 6 from onset, the girl presented with two focal motor seizures with impaired consciousness and awareness. All investigations ruled out signs of meningo-encephalitis or active epilepsy, including normal electroencephalogram and cerebral magnetic resonance imaging. PCR from nasal and throat swabs was positive for SARS-CoV-2. Remarkably, blood ferritin and D-dimer levels were increased. At day 9, the infant presented another afebrile motor seizure, and levetiracetam dose was modified there was a favorable response within 3 months of the follow-up. Much interest has been raised with regards to host genetic determinants to disease severity and susceptibility to COVID-19. We thus performed whole exome sequencing, revealing a pathogenic frameshift mutation in the PRRT2 gene in both the mother and the infant. The mother had presented two late infantile febrile convulsions with normal outcome afterwards. Discussion: The hyperimmune response described in adult cases with COVID-19 can be seen in infants, even in the absence of respiratory symptoms. Moreover, COVID-19 may present in infants as non-febrile seizures, triggering early onset seizures in infants with a genetic predisposition. In this pandemic situation, precision medicine using massive sequencing can shed light on underlying molecular mechanisms driving the host response to COVID-19.