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. 2020 Jul;179(7):1079-1087.
doi: 10.1007/s00431-020-03699-0. Epub 2020 May 30.

Children's heart and COVID-19: Up-to-date evidence in the form of a systematic review

Giulia Sanna #  1 , Gaia Serrau #  1 , Pier Paolo Bassareo  2   3 , Paola Neroni  1 , Vassilios Fanos  1 , Maria Antonietta Marcialis  1
Affiliations

Children's heart and COVID-19: Up-to-date evidence in the form of a systematic review

Giulia Sanna et al. Eur J Pediatr. 2020 Jul.

Abstract

The new coronavirus disease outbreak in 2019 (COVID-19) represents a dramatic challenge for healthcare systems worldwide. As to viral tropism, lungs are not the only COVID-19 target but also the heart may be involved in a not negligible percentage of the infected patients. Myocarditis-related cardiac dysfunction and potentially life-threatening arrhythmias are the main aftermaths. A few studies showed that myocardial injury in adult patients is often linked with a fatal outcome. Conversely, scientific evidence in children is sparse, although several reports were published with the description of a cardiac involvement in COVID-19 paediatric patients. In these young subjects, a background of surgically treated congenital heart disease seems to be a predisposing factor.Conclusion: This systematic review is aimed at summarizing all COVID-19 cases with a cardiac involvement published in paediatric age and trying to explain the underlying mechanisms responsible for COVID-19-related myocardial damage.What is Known:• Coronaviruses proved to be able to jump from animals to humans.• The outbreak of COVID-19 started from China (Dec 2019) and became pandemic.What is New:• Even in childhood, COVID-19 is not without the risk of cardiac involvement.• Myocarditis, heart failure, and arrhythmias are among the possible manifestations.

Keywords: COVID-19; Cardiovascular; Coronavirus; Heart; Myocarditis; Severe respiratory distress syndrome.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow chart of the study selection process
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Specific diagnostic algorithm suggested for COVID-19 children with suspected cardiovascular involvement
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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