Most Children With Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome Recover by Six Months

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 15, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Most children with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) recover quickly, according to a study published online Jan. 13 in JAMA Pediatrics.

Dongngan T. Truong, M.D., from the University of Utah and Primary Children”s Hospital in Salt Lake City, and colleagues characterized the frequency and time course of cardiac dysfunction (left ventricular ejection fraction [LVEF] <55 percent), coronary artery aneurysms, and noncardiac involvement through six months after MIS-C in a cohort study with 1,204 participants.

The researchers found that 45.9 percent of the participants required vasoactive support, 1.4 percent required extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, and 0.3 percent died during hospitalization. Overall, 42.3 percent of 322 participants with echocardiograms reviewed by the echocardiography core laboratory had LVEF <55 percent during hospitalization; all but one of those with follow-up normalized by six months. The lowest LVEF was seen in association with Black race, higher C-reactive protein, and abnormal troponin level. At any time point, 15 participants had coronary artery z scores of ≥2.5; one had a large/giant aneurysm. Twelve of 13 with z scores ≥2.5 during hospitalization had normalized by six months. At two weeks and six months, a return to greater than 90 percent of pre-MIS-C health status was reported by 83.6 and 95.1 percent, respectively. The most common symptom reported at two weeks was fatigue (15.9 percent), which decreased to 3.4 percent by six months.

“Results suggest that cardiovascular and noncardiovascular morbidities were rare by six months after hospital discharge, despite severe illness in many patients during the acute phase,” the authors write.

Several authors disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

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