Evaluation of pediatric patients with COVID-19 in a Turkish university hospital

• Published in: Nigerian journal of clinical practice Vol. 25; no. 11; pp. 1889 - 1895
• Main Authors: Gundeslioglu, O, Alabaz, D, Kose, S, Cay, U, Tapac, N, Kilinc, F, Kaymaz, S, Dogan, C, Sahin, G, Horoz, O, Yi;ldizdas, R, Unal, I, Kibar, F
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wolters Kluwer India Pvt. Ltd 01.11.2022; Medknow Publications and Media Pvt. Ltd
• Subjects: Care and treatment; Communicable diseases in children; Diagnosis; Hospital patients; Pediatric research; Statistics; Turkey; COVID-19; underlying disease; SARS-CoV-2; Children
• ISSN: 1119-3077
• DOI: 10.4103/njcp.njcp_331_22

Background: Although COVID-19 has a milder course in pediatric patients than in adults, it can have a severe and fatal course in children with an underlying disease (UD). Aims: In this study, we aimed to evaluate the demographic, clinical, laboratory, and radiological characteristics, treatment methods, and prognosis of pediatric patients diagnosed with COVID-19. Patients and Methods: The files of patients aged 0-18 years diagnosed with COVID-19 were retrospectively evaluated. Clinically and radiologically suspicious cases were accepted as confirmed cases if SARS-CoV-2 PCR positivity was found in nasopharyngeal swab samples. The severity of the disease was defined as asymptomatic, mild, moderate, and severe according to clinical, laboratory, and radiological features. Results: A total of 322 pediatric patients, 51.2% male and 48.8% female, were included in the study. The median age of the patients was 12.08 years (1 month-18 years). Of the 322 patients, 81 (25.1%) were asymptomatic. Disease severity was as follows: 218 were (67.7%) mild, 14 were (4.3%) moderate, and 9 (2.7%) were severe. 35.7% of the patients were hospitalized. Six percent were admitted to the intensive care unit, and three (0.93%) patients died. The mortality rate in patients with the UD was 3.3%. Conclusion: In our study, we determined that the disease had a more severe course in patients with initial procalcitonin, D-dimer, troponin increase, and thrombocytopenia. Although COVID-19 has a mild course in children, this is unfortunately not true for children with an UD.