Document Type : original article

Authors

1 Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran

2 Department of Pediatrics,Faculty of medicine,Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran

3 Student Research Committee, Faculty of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran

4 Associate professor of pediatrics diseases, Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Infectious Diseases Research Center, Shahid Beheshti Hospital, Kashan University of Medical Sciences

5 Department of Radiology, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran

10.22038/ijp.2023.74419.5366

Abstract

Background: Most research on children and adolescents with COVID-19, had limited sample sizes and little clinical, laboratory, and radiological findings. The purpose of this research was to examine the features of children and adolescents with COVID-19 infection.
Methods: This analytical retrospective study was conducted on children (1 to 12 years old) and adolescents (13 to 19 years old) with COVID-19 in Shahid Beheshti Hospital, Kashan, Iran. The data were then collected, entered into SPSS and analyzed.
Results: In the adolescent group, the frequency of dyspnea (47.1 % vs. 11.9%), cough (67.1 % vs. 39.2%), lethargy (42.9 % vs. 25.9%), headache (35.7 % vs. 10.5%), myalgia (38.6 % vs. 14%), and chest pain (12.9 % vs. 0.7%) were significantly higher than those in children (p<0.05). Furthermore, in terms of laboratory findings, the normal range of neutrophils (13.8% vs. 1.4%), Cr (95% vs. 75.7%), and CRP (77.9% vs. 58%) were higher in children. Moreover, we found that the CT severity score among adolescent patients was significantly higher than that in children (4.84 ± 5.21 vs. 1.76 ± 3.25, p=0.006). Also, the frequency of consolidation (61.3 % vs. 19%), and ground-glass opacity (58.1 % vs. 28.6%) among adolescents were significantly higher compared to child cases (p<0.05) while only the frequency of mosaic pattern of pulmonary parenchymal attenuation was significantly higher among children (p=0.035).
Conclusion: This research found milder clinical, biochemical, and radiological symptoms in children with COVID-19 than adolescents. However, radiological examinations showed greater rates of pulmonary parenchymal mosaic attenuation, which might help early diagnosis of COVID-19.

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