Evaluation of ventricular repolarization variables in pediatric COVID-19

INTRODUCTION: Although the childhood clinic of COVID-19 is more innocent than adults, its unknown aspects continue to cause concern among pediatricians. One of these unsettling aspects is the cardiovascular system effects. We investigate the role of ventricular repolarization parameters in predicting arrhythmia risk in pediatric COVID-19. METHODS: Twelve-channel surface electrocardiograms of a total of 166 participants, including children diagnosed with COVID-19 and healthy controls, were analyzed. The QT interval, corrected QT interval, QTc dispersion, Tpeak-Tend, Tp-e dispersion, Tp-e / QT and Tp-e / QTc ratio were calculated. The correlations between ventricular repolarization parameters and laboratory values were examined. RESULTS: In our study, the COVID-19 patients had a significantly longer Tpeak-Tend (64.51 ± 8.64 and 57.62 ± 7.96; p < 0.001), Tp-e dispersion (21.77 ± 6.4 and 18.01 ± 6.78; p < 0.001), and corrected QT interval (393.18 ± 20.06 and 380 ± 22.3; p < 0.001) duration than the control group. There was a significantly higher Tp-e / QT ratio (0.17 ± 0.02 and 0.15 ± 0.02; p < 0.001), Tp-e / QTc ratio (0.16 ± 0.02 and 0.15 ± 0.02; p < 0.001) in group with COVID-19 than the controls. In addition a positive correlation was found between Tpeak-Tend interval, Tp-e dispersion and white blood cells in the group with SARS CoV2 infection. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Evaluating these ventricular repolarization parameters in pediatric SARS CoV2 infection may be useful in predicting the risk of ventricular arrhythmia.