Pneumology

This is a new literature review updated in May 2022. In case some essential information is missing, please contact us at: rafael@hcuge.ch.

The respiratory consequences of COVID-19 lasted for a median of 4 months in a cohort of children aged 2-18 years of age 

Doležalová K, Tuková J, Pohunek P. Acta Paediatr. 2022 Feb 17. doi: 10.1111/apa.16297. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35175667.

In this national Czech multicentre study of paediatric post-COVID syndrome, 11 paediatric pulmonologists enrolled all paediatric referrals aged 2-18 years with persistent respiratory symptoms more than 12 weeks after COVID-19, namely cough, dyspnoea and chest pain. Medical histories were taken, and physical examinations, lung function testing, chest X-ray and blood tests were performed. The dominant symptoms in the 39 children (56.4% girls) were exertional dyspnoea (76.9%) and a chronic cough (48.7%), while dyspnoea at rest (30.8%) and chest pain (17.9%) were less prevalent. More than half (53.8%) reported more than 1 symptom, and 38.5% had abnormal results for 1 of the following tests: lung function, chest X-ray or D-dimers. The median age of the children was 13.5 years (interquartile range ±4.8 years), and the median recovery time was 4 months (range 1.5-8 months). Initial data suggest that the long-term respiratory impact of COVID-19 was relatively mild in our cohort, with a favourable prognosis.

Link to study: The respiratory consequences of COVID-19 lasted for a median of 4 months in a cohort of children aged 2-18 years of age