Post-COVID19 pulmonary complications in infants – clinical-imaging approaches

Abstract

Introduction. COVID-19 infection affects people of any age or gender. It was found that children up to 6 months of age have a major risk of developing a severe form of the infection. Contemporary diagnostic imaging methods of high sensitivity, such as lung CT, allow to establish the degree of lung damage, the volume and the sequelae arising from enduring the COVID-19 infection. The long-term consequences of the COVID-19 infection are still being researched. Pneumonia in the infection of COVID-19 can lead to the long-term development pulmonary fibrosis, atelectasis, bronchiectasis. Case report. The 5-month-old boy is admitted to the Pneumology Clinic with dyspnea, tachypnea, acrocyanosis, agitation, food refusal. It is known from the anamnesis that at the age of 4 months the child suffered a severe form of the COVID-19 infection. Non-contrast lung CT was performed which suggests fibro-atelectatic changes in both lungs, predominantly in the apical and basal segments. Conclusions. Infants show an increased vulnerability to develop bronchopulmonary changes after COVID-19. The case is suggestive from a clinical point of view, emphasizing the connection between the form, the evolution of the disease, and the consequences arising from the COVID-19 infection. Fibrotic pulmonary evolutionary changes are suggestive of SARS-CoV-2 virus infection.