Mild coronary artery dilatation developed in some children with mild COVID-19 but completely regressed within 3 months.

Abstract

AimWe studied the incidence and time course of any coronary artery changes in children up to 2 years of age who were hospitalised with mild COVID‐19.MethodsThis was a single‐centre prospective study of 29 children (19 males) with a median age of 3 months and interquartile range (IQR) of 1.6–4.3 months. They were admitted to a Greek University hospital for mild COVID‐19 from 1 March to 30 December 2021. Three echocardiographic evaluations were performed at a median (IQR) of 19 (16–24) days, 82 (75–89) days and 172 (163–197) after the first symptoms. The prevalence of coronary artery dilation, regression, and changes was documented.ResultsCoronary artery dilation was present in 3 (10.3%) cases at the first evaluation, with complete regression at the second. Regression was observed in 18/24 (75%) cases with follow‐up data and 9 (31%) demonstrated significant z‐score changes of >2. Coronary artery changes in any segment at any time were documented in 18/29 (62%) of the patients.ConclusionCases of transient and very mild coronary artery dilatation following mild COVID‐19 completely regressed within 3 months. Large‐scale studies are needed to document the extent and time course of coronary artery dilation following paediatric COVID‐19.