Children With Acute Respiratory Tract Infections

Abstract

The prevalence of electrocardiographic abnormalities suggestive of myocarditis among 737 children with respiratory tract infection was 1.49%, which did not differ significantly from that encountered in a control group of 108 cases without respiratory tract illness. Six (46.2%) of 13 patients with abnormal electrocardiograms and 412 (49.5%) of 832 patients with normal ECGs showed laboratory evidence of recent virus infection. The distribution of virus serotypes was also the same in the two groups with and without ECG changes. These findings indicate that the ECG abnormalities were a random occurrence not associated with illness or with labora-

Detection and Evaluation of Asymptomatic Myocarditis in Schoolchildren

“…The present results suggest that the number of children at risk of sudden cardiac death because of undiagnosed asymptomatic myocarditis is greater than previously thought. 11 Although we only performed histologic examinations on children with abnormal ST Figure 3. A biopsy specimen from the right ventricular apex of patient 1 showed myocardial degeneration, nuclear hypertrophy, and infiltration of inflammatory cells in the interstitial tissue (hematoxylin-eosin, original magnification ϫ400).…”

Heart block during the acute phase of Kawasaki disease

“…The exact prevalence of AV block or ECG abnormalities in children with influenza, upper respiratory tract infection, or subclinical myocarditis is unknown, but most likely is very low 5,6. In one study looking at the prevalence of electrocardiographic abnormalities in children with acute respiratory tract infections, which included influenza, 0 of 737 children had heart block 5. In the patient that we report, there were no clinical signs of heart failure related to myocarditis, no evidence of ischemic changes on the ECG, or coronary aneurysms on echocardiography.…”