• Ali A Asseri, Saleh M Al-Qahtani, Mohammed A Algathradi, Ibrahim A Alzaydani, Ahmed A Al-Jarie, Ibrahim A Al-Benhassan, Ibrahim A AlHelali, Mona S Alassiri, Ali A Alrmelawi, and Abdelwahid S Ali.
• From the Department of Child Health (Asseri, Al-Qahtani); from the Department of Radiology (Algathradi); from the Department of Microbiology and Clinical Parasitology (Ali), College of Medicine, King Khalid University, from the Department of Pediatrics (Alzaydani, Al-Jarie, Alassiri); from the Department of Pediatric Critical Care Unit (Al-Benhassan, AlHelali); and from the Department of Microbiology (Alrmelawi), Abha Maternity and Children Hospital, Abha, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
• Saudi Med J. 2022 Dec 1; 43 (12): 139013961390-1396.

ObjectivesTo evaluate the demographics, clinical presentation, laboratory data, chest radiographs, and outcomes of pediatric patients with critical coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).MethodsThis retrospective study included 34 children who were diagnosed with severe COVID-19 pneumonia between August 2020 and July 2021. Severe pneumonia was defined as fever, respiratory distress (tachypnea, chest retractions, and hypoxia [oxygen saturation <90% in room air]), and obvious infiltrations on chest radiography.ResultsAges of the patients ranged from newborns to 12 years old, with a median of 24 months (interquartile range: 12-72 months). Preschool-aged children were the most common age group (44%). Levels of inflammatory markers (C-reactive protein, ferritin, and procalcitonin) were elevated in most patients. A total of 13 patients developed severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), while 4 developed multiorgan failure. Despite receiving supportive therapy, 2 (5.9%) patients died due to severe septic shock and multiorgan failure. One deceased patient was born prematurely at 30 weeks, while the other had chronic granulomatous disease.ConclusionThis study described a single-center cohort of pediatric patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia. In this cohort, children with cardiopulmonary comorbidities and ARDS had a high mortality and long-term morbidity, as observed in other pediatric studies.Copyright: © Saudi Medical Journal.

15 keywords...

hide…