Predictors of pulmonary involvement in children with COVID-19: How
strongly associated is viral load?
Abstract
This study aimed to investigate epidemiological, clinical, and
laboratory features of children with COVID-19 to identify predictors for
pulmonary involvement. We conducted a retrospective, single-center study
of pediatric COVID-19 at a tertiary care hospital in Turkey between
December 2020 and June 2021. A total of 126 children (70 males, 55.6%)
were examined during the study period. Their mean age was 74.73 ± 81.11
months (range, 1–216 months). The most frequent COVID-19 symptoms were
fever (65.9%), cough (52.4%), and shortness of breath (18.3%). Ten
patients required noninvasive mechanical ventilation. Sixty-nine
patients (54.8%) had pneumonia. Longer duration of fever and the
presence of cough were significantly associated with pulmonary
involvement. In children with pneumonia, the C-reactive protein (CRP),
procalcitonin levels, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and viral
load were significantly higher and lymphocyte and thrombocyte counts
were significantly lower than in children without pneumonia. The cutoff
viral load, CRP, and procalcitonin values for predicting pulmonary
involvement were 26.5 cycle threshold (Ct; 95% confidence interval
[CI], 0.54–0.74; sensitivity, 0.65; specificity, 0.56; area under
curve [AUC]: 0.647, p = 0.005), 7.85 mg/L (95% CI,
0.56–0.75; sensitivity, 0.66; specificity, 0.64; AUC = 0.656; p
= 0.003) and 0.105 ng/mL (95% CI, 0.52–0.72; sensitivity, 0.55;
specificity, 0.58; AUC = 0.626; p = 0.02), respectively. High
CRP, procalcitonin levels, ESR, and viral load and low lymphocyte and
thrombocyte counts can predict pulmonary involvement in children with
COVID-19, so better management may be provided for good prognosis.