Key Points
Question
Are neuroimaging findings of infants exposed to Zika virus associated with infant clinical outcomes and gestational age of antenatal Zika virus infection?
Findings
In this cohort study of 110 infants with confirmed or suspected antenatal exposure to Zika virus evaluated at a referral center from 2015 to 2016, 96% of abnormal neuroimaging occurred among Zika virus–exposed infants with severe clinical findings at birth; however, 10% of infants without severe clinical manifestations also had neuroimaging abnormalities. In addition, an increased risk of abnormal imaging was associated with Zika virus exposure in the first trimester compared with later trimesters.
Meaning
Neuroimaging of infants exposed to Zika virus is an important part of evaluating infants with a history of Zika virus in utero exposure, particularly for those exposed in the first trimester.
What's Already Known about this Topic?
Intrauterine Zika virus infection has been associated with several malformations of the central nervous system, mainly microcephaly.
What does this Study Add?
We present a case of congenital Zika virus infection in which perinatal brain pathology was investigated using multiple diagnostic procedures. Maternal serology for Zika virus was positive when performed at 31 weeks, but the onset of clinical symptoms was at 10 weeks, indicating that early pregnancy infection may result in a long viral shedding and result in severe brain malformations that become detectable only later in pregnancy.
Relatively few agents have been associated with congenital infections involving the brain. One such agent is the Zika virus, which has caused several outbreaks worldwide and has spread in the Americas since 2015. The Zika virus is an arbovirus transmitted by infected female mosquito vectors, such as the Aedes aegypti mosquito. This virus has been commonly associated with congenital infections of the central nervous system and has greatly increased the rates of microcephaly. Ultrasonography (US) remains the method of choice for fetal evaluation of congenital Zika virus infection. For improved assessment of the extent of the lesions, US should be complemented by magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. Postnatal computed tomography and MR imaging can also unveil additional findings of central nervous system involvement, such as microcephaly with malformation of cortical development, ventriculomegaly, and multifocal calcifications in the cortical-subcortical junction, along with associated cortical atrophy. The calcifications may be punctate, dystrophic, linear, or coarse and may follow a predominantly bandlike distribution. A small anterior fontanelle with prematurely closed sutures is also observed with Zika virus infection. In this review, the prenatal and postnatal neurologic imaging findings of congenital Zika virus infection are covered. Radiologists must be aware of this challenging entity and have knowledge of the various patterns that may be depicted with each imaging modality and the main differential diagnosis of the disease. As in other neurologic infections, serial imaging is able to help demonstrate the progression of the findings. RSNA, 2017.
The recent epidemic of Zika virus (ZIKV) infection in Central and South America is one of the most serious global public health emergencies since the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. In Brazil, especially in the north, northeast, and southeast parts of the country, the ZIKV outbreak is a cause of concern for pregnant women because ZIKV intrauterine infection has been found to be associated with multiple brain malformations and microcephaly. In Brazil, the number of newborns with confirmed microcephaly per year recorded during the ZIKV outbreak, has been approximately 15 times greater than previously reported. Considering that the infection is self-limiting and symptomatic, it is usually diagnosed at the time of routine prenatal scan, especially in the third trimester. In other cases, the disease is detected after childbirth through neuroimaging. This study provides an insight into the history and evolution of ZIKV in Brazil, including current knowledge concerning the transmission, diagnosis, and pathogenesis of the infection. In addition, this review describes the pre- and postnatal neuroimaging findings obtained using ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging, and computed tomography.
Background
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which resulted in the worldwide coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic of 2020, has particularly affected Latin America.
Objective
The purpose of the study was to analyze the imaging findings of pulmonary COVID-19 in a large pediatric series.
Materials and methods
Children with SARS-CoV-2 infection confirmed by either quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction from nasopharyngeal swabs or presence of circulating immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies and who underwent chest radiograph or CT or both were included in this retrospective multicenter study. Three pediatric radiologists independently reviewed radiographs and CTs to identify the presence, localization, distribution and extension of pulmonary lesions.
Results
We included 140 children (71 female; median age 6.3 years, interquartile range 1.6–12.1 years) in the study. Peribronchial thickening (93%), ground-glass opacities (79%) and vascular engorgement (63%) were the most frequent findings on 131 radiographs. Ground-glass opacities (91%), vascular engorgement (84%) and peribronchial thickening (72%) were the most frequent findings on 32 CTs. Peribronchial thickening (100%), ground-glass opacities (83%) and pulmonary vascular engorgement (79%) were common radiograph findings in asymptomatic children (
n
=25). Ground-glass opacity and consolidation were significantly higher in children who needed intensive care admission or died (92% and 48%), in contrast with children with a favorable outcome (71% and 24%, respectively;
P
<0.05).
Conclusion
Asymptomatic children and those with mild symptoms of COVID-19 showed mainly peribronchial thickening, ground-glass opacities and pulmonary vascular engorgement on radiographs. Ground-glass opacity and consolidation were more common in children who required intensive care admission or died.
Supplementary Information
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00247-021-05055-2.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.