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. 2023 Aug 11;21(1):82.
doi: 10.1186/s12969-023-00861-4.

Impact of SARS-CoV-2 on the clinical presentation of juvenile idiopathic inflammatory myopathies

Jessica Perfetto  1 , Donna A Yoo  2 , Carolina Y Tamashiro  3 , Megan M Perron  4 , Natalia Vasquez-Canizares  5 , Dawn M Wahezi  5
Affiliations

Impact of SARS-CoV-2 on the clinical presentation of juvenile idiopathic inflammatory myopathies

Jessica Perfetto et al. Pediatr Rheumatol Online J. .

Abstract

Background: Growing evidence suggests that infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) may trigger idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM). Few studies have described individual juvenile IIM (JIIM) cases following SARS-CoV-2 infection, and none explored its potential effects on JIIM clinical presentation. We aim to investigate the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on JIIM in patients diagnosed before and after the onset of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Methods: Patients diagnosed with JIIM before age 19 at The Children's Hospital at Montefiore were included. Demographics, clinical and laboratory data, and evidence of SARS-CoV-2 exposure were collected retrospectively. Patients were grouped by pre-COVID-19 (before January 1, 2020) and post-COVID-19 (January 1, 2020, or later). Descriptive statistics were used to summarize each variable. Non-parametric testing was performed using Fischer's exact test and Mann-Whitney U test.

Results: Fifty-one patients were included, 13 (25%) diagnosed in the post-COVID-19 era. Of these, 10 (77%) had onset of JIIM symptoms after January 1, 2020; 6 (60%) with known or suspected SARS-CoV-2 exposure. Though not statistically significant, post-pandemic patients tended to be older, female, and have non-specific cutaneous manifestations. Despite reported delays in care for other pediatric diagnoses during the pandemic, fewer post-pandemic patients had delays in JIIM diagnosis.

Conclusions: This is the first study to explore the effects of SARS-CoV-2 on JIIM clinical presentation. While our exploratory single-center study did not find significant differences in JIIM diagnosed pre- and post-pandemic, larger prospective multicenter studies are warranted to evaluate this association and to explore clinical variances over time.

Keywords: COVID-19; Juvenile dermatomyositis; Juvenile idiopathic inflammatory myopathies; Juvenile overlap myositis; Juvenile polymyositis; SARS-CoV-2.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have non-competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Patient inclusion
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Year of diagnosis (N = 51). Solid bars represent pre-pandemic, patterned bars represent post-pandemic
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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