Spectrum of Imaging Findings Described in COVID-19 MIS-C

WEDNESDAY, July 1, 2020 (HealthDay News) — The spectrum of imaging findings in children with post-COVID-19 inflammatory condition (multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children [MIS-C]) is described in a case series published online June 25 in Radiology.

Shema Hameed, M.B.B.S., from St. Thomas’ Hospital London, and colleagues examined the spectrum of imaging findings on chest radiographs, ultrasound (US), computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging for 35 children admitted with post-COVID-19 MIS-C.

The researchers found that 24 of the children had clinical status severe enough to warrant management in the pediatric intensive care unit, of whom seven required mechanical ventilation and 20 required inotropic support. All children had a chest radiograph; 46 percent of radiographs were normal. The most common finding on abnormal radiographs was peribronchial cuffing and perihilar interstitial thickening (12 of 35); this progressed rapidly to perihilar airspace opacification in 11 cases. Basal consolidation with collapse and pleural effusions were the predominant findings on chest CT (13 and 10 of 33, respectively). Diffuse bilateral ground-glass opacification in combination with patchy dense consolidation occurred in three children. Eighteen of the children had cardiac dysfunction, with abnormal echocardiogram findings, including deteriorating myocardial function, myocarditis, pancarditis, pericardial effusions, and coronary artery aneurysms. Nineteen children underwent abdominal US; findings included anechoic free-fluid and localized inflammatory change within the right iliac fossa (10 and nine, respectively).

“Our intention is to bring these findings to the attention of the wider radiological community,” Hameed said in a statement.

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