Primary Care Perspectives: Cardiac Complications of COVID-19 in Children: How They Affect Outpatient Care Post-infection - Episode 97

Primary Care Perspectives: Podcast for Pediatricians

Matthew Elias, MD, attending cardiologist, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, discusses COVID-19’s impact on the heart and how it affects outpatient care for children who have recovered. Includes: a refresher on clinical symptoms of myocarditis, which vary by age and can be subtle; review of EKG findings with myocarditis (again, tricky); other cardiac effects of COVID; the potential for long-term cardiac effects; lack of knowledge about the extent to which other pediatric viruses affect the heart; significance of troponin levels in adults versus children; guidelines for return to sport following COVID infection, with age and severity of infection as factors; when to consider referral for EKG and outpatient cardiology evaluation; symptoms of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C); differences between MIS-C and Kawasaki disease; whether patients with congenital heart disease are at higher risk; and more.