Vitamin D and morbidity in children with Multisystem inflammatory syndrome related to Covid-19

Multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C) is a clinical presentation reported in children related to Coronavirus-19 infection who present with a toxic shock like syndrome. Vitamin D deficiency has been postulated to play a role with severity of coronavirus infection in adult patients and other viral respiratory infections.

This study aims to investigate if severe vitamin D deficiency was associated with increased disease severity and cardiac involvement in MIS-C.

This is a retrospective and single center study. We included hospitalized patients less than 18 years of age with diagnosis of MIS-C between March and July 2020. Severe vitamin D deficiency was defined as 25-OH vitamin D level < 10 ng/ml within 48 h of admission. The composite outcome severe disease included patients requiring inotropes, mechanical ventilation, and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

Of the 31 patients with MIS-C, 45% were male and 58% were African American. The median age was 8 (1-13) years. Ten patients had severe vitamin D deficiency with a mean level of 7.2 ng/ml. Ninety percent of patients with severe vitamin D deficiency had severe disease (P < 0.001). Patients with severe vitamin D deficiency had an increased risk of cardiac involvement (P < 0.001).

We describe a potential association between severe vitamin D deficiency and severe disease in children presenting with MIS-C. Severe vitamin D deficiency predisposes patients for cardiovascular involvement and may play a critical role in the host immune response to COVID-19 infection. Future prospective studies at the basic science and clinical level should be pursued to better delineate this association.