Circulating sTREM-1 as a predictive biomarker of pediatric multisystemic inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C).

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.

Persistent symptoms and decreased health-related quality of life after symptomatic pediatric COVID-19: A prospective study in a Latin American tertiary hospital.

OBJECTIVES: To prospectively evaluate demographic, anthropometric and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in pediatric patients with laboratory-confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). METHODS: This was a longitudinal observational study of surviving pediatric post-COVID-19 patients (n=53) and pediatric subjects without laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 included as controls (n=52) was performed. RESULTS: The median duration between COVID-19 diagnosis (n=53) and follow-up was 4.4 months (0.8-10.7). Twenty-three of 53 (43%) patients reported at least one persistent symptom at the longitudinal follow-up visit and 12/53 (23%) had long COVID-19, with at least one symptom lasting for >12 weeks. The most frequently reported symptoms at the longitudinal follow-up visit were headache (19%), severe recurrent headache (9%), tiredness (9%), dyspnea (8%), and concentration difficulty (4%). At the longitudinal follow-up visit, the frequencies of anemia (11% versus 0%, p=0.030), lymphopenia (42% versus 18%, p=0.020), C-reactive protein level of >30 mg/L (35% versus 0%, p=0.0001), and D-dimer level of >1000 ng/mL (43% versus 6%, p=0.0004) significantly reduced compared with baseline values. Chest X-ray abnormalities (11% versus 2%, p=0.178) and cardiac alterations on echocardiogram (33% versus 22%, p=0.462) were similar at both visits. Comparison of characteristic data between patients with COVID-19 at the longitudinal follow-up visit and controls showed similar age (p=0.962), proportion of male sex (p=0.907), ethnicity (p=0.566), family minimum monthly wage (p=0.664), body mass index (p=0.601), and pediatric pre-existing chronic conditions (p=1.000). The Pediatric Quality of Live Inventory 4.0 scores, median physical score (69 [0-100] versus 81 [34-100], p=0.012), and school score (60 [15-100] versus 70 [15-95], p=0.028) were significantly lower in pediatric patients with COVID-19 at the longitudinal follow-up visit than in controls. CONCLUSIONS: Pediatric patients with COVID-19 showed a longitudinal impact on HRQoL parameters, particularly in physical/school domains, reinforcing the need for a prospective multidisciplinary approach for these patients. These data highlight the importance of closer monitoring of children and adolescents by the clinical team after COVID-19.