Aim - To evaluate the cardiopulmonary function in children returning to play sports after mild or asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection. - Methods - This is a consecutive case series conducted at the Institute for Maternal and Child Health, Trieste, Italy. Paediatric patients who accessed the Institute for cardiologic and pneumological evaluation before the return to play competitive sports were recruited. According to the Italian Sports Medical Federation recommendations, echocardiogram, electrocardiogram, treadmill ECG test and pulmonary function tests were performed. - Results - 240 patients (aged 8-17 years old) were recruited. Among these, 233 children were considered for the final analysis. Out of 233, 147 (63.1%) had a mild symptomatic form of SARS-CoV-2 infection, while 86 (36.9%) were asymptomatic. The main referred symptoms were fever (n = 68, 46.3%), headache (n = 42, 28.6%), anosmia (n = 40, 27.2%), rhinitis (n = 34, 23.1%), ageusia (n = 32, 21.8%), cough (n = 22, 15%), asthenia (n = 21, 14.3%), arthralgia-myalgia (n = 20, 13.6%), sore throat (n = 14, 9.5%) and gastrointestinal symptoms (n = 9, 6.1%). No child presented evidence of cardiopulmonary function impairment after an average time of 76.1 days (SD 39.2) from SARS-CoV-2 swab positivity and a median of 68 days (IQ1 49, IQ3 98). - Conclusion - This study suggests that the diagnostic yield of cardiopulmonary tests before returning to play sports may be very low in the absence of specific symptoms.
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