COVID-19 infection in patients with history of pediatric heart transplant in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland

Ulrich S, Balmer C, Becker K, Bruhs J, Danne F, Debus V, Dewein L, Di-Bernardo S, Doll U, Fleck T, Tirilomis T, Glöckler M, Grafmann M, Greil S, Grosser U, Saur P, Skrzypek S, Steinmetz M (2024)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2024

Journal

Book Volume: 38

Article Number: e15272

Journal Issue: 3

DOI: 10.1111/ctr.15272

Abstract

COVID-19 is a heterogenous infection—asymptomatic to fatal. While the course of pediatric COVID-19 infections is usually mild or even asymptomatic, individuals after adult heart transplantation are at high risk of a severe infection. We conducted a retrospective, multicenter survey of 16 pediatric heart transplant centers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland to evaluate the risk of a severe COVID-19 infection after pediatric heart transplantation between 02/2020 and 06/2021. Twenty-six subjects (11 male) with a median age of 9.77 years at time of transplantation and a median of 4.65 years after transplantation suffered from COVID-19 infection. The median age at time of COVID-10 infection was 17.20 years. Fourteen subjects had an asymptomatic COVID-19 infection. The most frequent symptoms were myalgia/fatigue (n = 6), cough (n = 5), rhinitis (n = 5), and loss of taste (n = 5). Only one subject showed dyspnea. Eleven individuals needed therapy in an outpatient setting, four subjects were hospitalized. One person needed oxygen supply, none of the subjects needed non-invasive or invasive mechanical ventilation. No specific signs for graft dysfunction were found by non-invasive testing. In pediatric heart transplant subjects, COVID-19 infection was mostly asymptomatic or mild. There were no SARS-CoV-2 associated myocardial dysfunction in heart transplant individuals.

Involved external institutions

Deutsches Herzzentrum Berlin Germany (DE) Universitäts-Kinderspital Zürich Switzerland (CH) Herz- und Diabeteszentrum Nordrhein-Westfalen Germany (DE) Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) Germany (DE) Universitäts-Herzzentrum Freiburg - Bad Krozingen GmbH Germany (DE) Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) Germany (DE) Zentrum für angeborene Herzfehler Switzerland (CH) Universitätsklinikum Gießen und Marburg (UKGM) Germany (DE) Georg-August-Universität Göttingen Germany (DE) Vienna General Hospital / Allgemeines Krankenhaus der Stadt Wien (AKH) Austria (AT) Universitätsklinikum Münster Germany (DE) Universitätsklinikum Heidelberg Germany (DE) Medizinische Hochschule Hannover (MHH) / Hannover Medical School Germany (DE) Universitätsklinikum Schleswig-Holstein (UKSH) Germany (DE) Universitätsklinikum Ulm Germany (DE) Lausanne University Hospital / Centre hospitalier universitaire vaudois (CHUV) Switzerland (CH)

How to cite

APA:

Ulrich, S., Balmer, C., Becker, K., Bruhs, J., Danne, F., Debus, V.,... Steinmetz, M. (2024). COVID-19 infection in patients with history of pediatric heart transplant in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Clinical Transplantation, 38(3). https://doi.org/10.1111/ctr.15272

MLA:

Ulrich, Sarah, et al. "COVID-19 infection in patients with history of pediatric heart transplant in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland." Clinical Transplantation 38.3 (2024).

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