SynthesisClinical biochemistry2020
Laboratory abnormalities in children with mild and severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): A pooled analysis and review.
Synthesis in Clinical biochemistry, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 80 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
80 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 167 citations in OpenAlex.
- Evidence linking COVID-19 and the health/well-being of children and adolescents: an umbrella review.BMC medicine · 2024Pooled it
- Cardiac Injury in COVID-19: A Systematic Review of Relevant Meta-Analyses.Reviews in cardiovascular medicine · 2022Pooled it
- COVID-19: Critical appraisal of the evidence.Anales de pediatria · 2021Pooled it
- Early changes in laboratory parameters are predictors of mortality and ICU admission in patients with COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Medical microbiology and immunology · 2021Pooled it
- Remdesivir safety and clinical outcomes in pediatric COVID-19: a retrospective study.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Article
- Post-COVID-19 Neutropenia in an Infant With Thalassemia Minor: Case Report.Clinical case reports · 2025Article
- Comprehensive review on COVID-19: etiology, pathogenicity, and treatment.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Review
- A novel hematological score (HS) and its related nomogram model to predict nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease in patients with suspected multidrug-resistant pulmonary tuberculosis.Annals of medicine · 2024Article
- COVID-19 in Children and Vitamin D.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Point-of-care lung ultrasound predicts hyperferritinemia and hospitalization, but not elevated troponin in SARS-CoV-2 viral pneumonitis in children.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Clinical and epidemiological profiles of pediatric COVID-19 in two private Kenyan hospitals.The Pan African medical journal · 2024Article
- Clinical and Laboratory Profile, Management and Outcome of Pediatric SARS-CoV-2 Infection Admitted at the Philippine General Hospital.Acta medica Philippina · 2024Article
- COVID-19 frequency and clinical course in children with asthma.World journal of virology · 2023Article
- Procalcitonin Levels in Identifying Bacterial Infections in Children with and without COVID-19.Infectious diseases & clinical microbiology · 2023Article
- Comparative Analysis of Symptomatology in Hospitalized Children with RSV, COVID-19, and Influenza Infections.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2023Article
- COVID-19 infections among Iraqi school students: Severity, types, and symptoms.Journal of medicine and life · 2023Article
- Paediatric COVID-19 Outcomes: Haematology Parameters, Mortality Rates, and Hospitalization Duration.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- [Clinical characteristics of neonates infected with the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2: a multicenter cross-sectional survey].Zhongguo dang dai er ke za zhi = Chinese journal of contemporary pediatrics · 2023Article
- COVID-19 in Pediatric Intensive Care Units in Poland, PAPITCO-19 Study (Polish Analysis of PICU Trends during COVID-19).Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Article
20 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 7 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Limited data exists to-date on the laboratory findings in children with COVID-19, warranting the conduction of this study, in which we pool the currently available literature data on the laboratory findings seen in children with mild and severe COVID-19. Following an extensive literature search, we identified 24 eligible studies, including a total of 624 pediatric cases with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19, which report data on 27 different biomarkers. We then performed a meta-analysis to calculate the pooled prevalence estimates (PPE) for these laboratory abnormalities in mild COVID-19. As data was too limited for children with severe COVID-19 to allow pooling, results were presented descriptively in a summary of findings table. Our data show an inconsistent pattern of change in the leukocyte index of mild and severe cases of COVID-19 in children. Specifically, changes in leukocyte counts were only observed in 32% of the mild pediatric cases (PPE: 13% increase, 19% decrease). In mild disease, creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB) was frequently elevated, with a PPE of 33%. In severe disease, c-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin (PCT), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were frequently elevated. Based on data obtained from early COVID-19 studies, leukocyte indices in children appear inconsistent, differing from those reported in adults that highlight specific leukocyte trends. This brings into question the utility and reliability of such parameters in monitoring disease severity in the pediatric population. Instead, we suggest physicians to serially monitor CRP, PCT, and LDH to track the course of illness in hospitalized children. Finally, elevated CK-MB in mild pediatric COVID-19 cases is indicative of possible cardiac injury. This highlights the importance of monitoring cardiac biomarkers in hospitalized patients and the need for further investigation of markers such as cardiac troponin in future studies.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.