Research Day
SARS-COV-2 INFECTION ASSOCIATED SEVERE DILATED CARDIOMYOPATHY IN A 4 WEEK OLD INFANT
Document Type
Abstract
Date
2021
Abstract
Introduction: COVID-19 infections tend to be less severe in children compared to adults.In general, children with COVID-19 have an excellent prognosis and typically recover within 1-2 weeks after disease onset. We report the case of a 4 week old infant with severe isolated systolic dysfunction who was found to be positive for COVID-19. He did not have the multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C ) commonly associated with COVID-19 infection.
Case report: In this report, we describe the case of a 4 week old infant admitted for evaluation of increased work of breathing, occasional coughing, poor feeding and irritability. His workup was remarkable for positive nasopharyngeal swab specimen for SARS-CoV-2 RNA. His echocardiogram showed severely dilated Left Ventricle with severe dysfunction (Fractional Shortening of 11%). Patient has been followed by his Pediatric Cardiologist every 4-6 weeks since discharge with gradual improvement in his systolic function with his most recent echocardiogram (at 5 months of age) showing FS of 35%.
Discussion: COVID-19 infections tend to be less severe in children compared to adults. In general, pediatric patients with COVID-19 have an excellent prognosis. COVID -19 may result in cardiac injury through multiple potential mechanisms, including cardiomyocyte injury due to acute inflammatory response, viral invasion leading to cellular damage or Ischemic injury in the presence of severe hypoxia as a result of acute lung injury. To the best of our knowledge; this is the first case of an infant with SARS-CoV-2 associated severe dilated cardiomyopathy with complete recovery of heart function.