Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Findings after Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children

To describe the cardiac magnetic resonance (MR) findings of children recovered from multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) longer than 3 months after acute illness.

We performed a retrospective cohort study of children hospitalized with MIS-C at a single institution receiving cardiac MR imaging between July 2020 and May 2021. Patient demographics, echocardiogram data from diagnosis through follow-up, and cardiac MR data obtained at approximately 3 months after hospitalization were recorded.

In total, 51 children with a median age of 11.3 years were included; 80% of patients had left ventricular ejection fraction <55%, 65% of patients developed valvular regurgitation, and 20% of patients developed coronary artery dilation during acute illness. Cardiac MR was performed at a median time of 105 days after diagnosis; 8% of patients had left ventricular ejection fraction <55%; 1 patient had residual valvular regurgitation; and 2 patients had residual coronary artery dilation. Two of 51 patients were found to have late gadolinium enhancement, T1 mapping abnormalities, and abnormal or borderline extracellular volume calculations suggesting myocardial fibrosis. No patient had T2 mapping abnormalities corresponding with edema, and no patient met the modified Lake Louise criteria for acute myocarditis; 10 of 51 patients had isolated elevated T1 values.

At 3-5 months following diagnosis, cardiac MR reveals no evidence of acute myocarditis as described by the modified Lake Louise criteria in patients with MIS-C. Two patients were observed to have myocardial fibrosis without regional wall motion abnormalities, and 10 had isolated imaging changes (elevated T1 values) in the absence of macroscopic fibrosis.