Biochemical and cardiovascular predictors of PIMS-TS risk in children after COVID-19 recovery: preliminary results of the LATE-COVID-Kids Study

Izabela Jatczak-Pawlik; Joanna Lewek; Elżbieta Czkwianianc; Agnieszka Blomberg; Natalia Krysiak; Krzysztof Zeman; Piotr Jankowski; Maciej Banach; LATE-COVID-Kids Study

doi:10.5114/aoms/146827

Biochemical and cardiovascular predictors of PIMS-TS risk in children after COVID-19 recovery: preliminary results of the LATE-COVID-Kids Study

Arch Med Sci. 2022 Feb 23;18(2):545-552. doi: 10.5114/aoms/146827. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Izabela Jatczak-Pawlik^{1

2}, Joanna Lewek^{1

2}, Elżbieta Czkwianianc³, Agnieszka Blomberg⁴, Natalia Krysiak⁴, Krzysztof Zeman⁴, Piotr Jankowski^{5

6}, Maciej Banach^{1

2}; LATE-COVID-Kids Study

Affiliations

¹ Department of Preventive Cardiology and Lipidology, Medical University of Lodz (MUL), Lodz, Poland.
² Department of Cardiology and Congenital Diseases of Adults, Polish Mother's Memorial Hospital Research Institute (PMMHRI), Lodz, Poland.
³ Department of Gastroenterology, Allergology and Pediatrics, Polish Mother's Memorial Hospital Research Institute, Lodz, Poland.
⁴ Department of Pediatrics, Immunology and Nephrology, Polish Mother's Memorial Hospital Research Institute, Lodz, Poland.
⁵ Department of Internal Medicine and Geriatric Cardiology, Centre of Postgraduate Medical Education, Warsaw, Poland.
⁶ Institute of Cardiology, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland.

Abstract

Introduction: We aimed to characterize biochemical and cardiovascular predictors of the paediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome temporally associated with SARS-CoV-2 (PIMS-TS) risk based on the data from the LATE-COVID-Kids study.

Methods: 148 consecutive COVID-19 convalescents hospitalized for the clinical evaluation after the acute phase of COVID-19 were classified into two groups related to symptoms: 33 children finally diagnosed with PIMS-TS and 115 children without PIMS-TS (control group).

Results: PIMS-TS children were significantly younger (6.79 ±4.57 vs. 9.10 ±4.94 years). After adjustment, in comparison to those without, PIMS-TS children had a higher level of antithrombin III (111 ±9.30 vs. 105 ±11.4), higher heart rate (HR)/min (100 (89.0-111) vs. 90 (79.7-100)) and sinus rhythm (p = 0.03) but lower PQ interval (p = 0.02) on admission to hospital. The lymphocytes (absolute count and percentage) were significantly higher in children with PIMS-TS, and the opposite results were obtained for IgA and neutrophils. Furthermore, children with PIMS-TS had a higher level of thyroid stimulating hormone (2.76 (2.16-4.18) vs. 2.36 (1.73-2.83)) and red cell distribution width (p < 0.005) compared to those without.

Conclusions: It is the first data on the possible predictors of PIMS-TS risk in the Long-COVID period. These results need to be further validated to next create the PIMS SCORE algorithm, which might enable the effective prediction of children with the risk of PIMS-TS occurrence after COVID-19 recovery.

Keywords: PIMS-TS; SARS-CoV-2; coronavirus; pandemic; predictors; prevention.