Oral manifestations of COVID-2019-related multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children: a review of 47 pediatric patients.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Although much is still unknown about the full effects of COVID-19, literature from the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic (spring and summer 2020) supports a postviral immunologic reaction resulting in a multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C). The purpose of this study was to report the rates of documented oral and oropharyngeal manifestations among these patients and to determine the association of these findings with other MIS-C symptoms.

METHODS:

The authors conducted a retrospective review of pediatric patients with COVID-19 who were admitted to the Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian. Patients fulfilling the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria for MIS-C were included in this study. The documented signs, symptoms, and laboratory values were collected and compared with the presence of oral or oropharyngeal findings.

RESULTS:

The mean (standard deviation) age of MIS-C patients was 9.0 (5.0) years (range, 1.3-20.0 years), and there was no obvious sex difference (51.1% male, 48.9% female). With respect to oral findings, 23 patients (48.9%) had red or swollen lips, whereas only 5 (10.6%) had a strawberry tongue. Oral or oropharyngeal findings were associated significantly with the presence of systemic rash (P = .04) and conjunctivitis (P = .02).

CONCLUSIONS:

The presence of oral or oropharyngeal changes may be an early indicator of MIS-C and should be considered suggestive of MIS-C in the setting of COVID-19 infection.

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS:

Dental care providers may play an integral role both in the early detection of oral manifestations of MIS-C and in the identification of oral lesions in hospitalized patients with confirmed MIS-C.

• Authors: Steven Halepas, Kevin C Lee, Aaron Myers, Richard K Yoon, Wendy Chung, Scott M Peters
• Journal: Journal of the American Dental Association (1939) (J Am Dent Assoc) Vol. 152 Issue 3 Pg. 202-208 (03 2021) ISSN: 1943-4723 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 33632409 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Review)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Topics

• Adolescent
• Adult
• COVID-19
• Child
• Child, Preschool
• Female
• Humans
• Infant
• Male
• Pandemics
• Retrospective Studies
• SARS-CoV-2
• Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome
• Young Adult