Abstract
Background
An increasing rate of encephalopathy associated with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been observed among children. However, the literature on neuroimaging data in children with COVID-19 is limited.
Objective
To analyze brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of pediatric COVID-19 patients with neurological complications.
Materials and methods
This multicenter retrospective observational study analyzed clinical (n=102, 100%) and neuroimaging (n=93, 91.2%) data of 102 children with COVID-19 infections and comorbid acute neurological symptoms. These children were hospitalized at five pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) in China between December 1, 2022, and January 31, 2023.
Results
All patients were positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) as detected via reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. About 75.7% of the children were infected with the Omicron variant BF.7 strain. Brain MRI was performed 1–12 days following the onset of neurological symptoms, which revealed acute neuroimaging findings in 74.2% (69/93) of cases, including evidence of acute necrotizing encephalopathy (33/69, 47.8%), encephalitis (31/69, 44.9%), reversible splenial lesion syndrome (3/69, 4.3%), reversible posterior leukoencephalopathy (1/69, 1.4%), and hippocampal atrophy (1/69, 1.4%).
Conclusions
Overall, these data highlighted five neuroimaging patterns associated with the outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, with acute necrotizing encephalopathy being the most common of these neuroimaging findings. Rarely, the brain MRI of these pediatric COVID-19 patients also demonstrate hippocampal atrophy.
Graphical abstract
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Data availability
The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. J.Y.P and W.M conceived, supervised, and supported the study. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by W.Y.J., H.J., X.M.Y., J.Q., H.M.Y., and L.X.M. S.Y.L. and W.X.M. interpreted the images. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Z.C. and W.Y.J. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Approval was granted by the Institutional Research Ethics Board (No. 2023-059).
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Chun Zhao and Yujuan Wang both contributed equally to this work and share the first authorship.
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Zhao, C., Wang, Y., Hou, J. et al. Brain magnetic resonance imaging findings in children with neurological complications of coronavirus disease 2019 (Omicron variant): a multicenter retrospective observational study. Pediatr Radiol 54, 1012–1021 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00247-024-05908-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00247-024-05908-6