New-Onset Neuropsychiatric, Sleep Symptoms Common in MIS-C

THURSDAY, Feb. 3, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Most patients with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) have new-onset neurological, psychiatric, and sleep symptoms, with many of these symptoms persisting after discharge, according to a study published online Jan. 24 in the Journal of Child Neurology.

Stephanie Enner, M.D., from Cohen Children's Medical Center in New York City, and colleagues conducted a single-center retrospective chart review and cross-sectional survey of patients diagnosed with MIS-C. Forty-seven patients and their parents were surveyed on symptoms before COVID-19, upon admission, and at 23 weeks after discharge.

The researchers found that 77, 60, and 77 percent of patients reported neurological, psychiatric, and sleep symptoms, respectively, during hospitalization. Prior to hospitalization, these symptoms were reported by 15, 0, and 7 percent, respectively. Of the 36 patients with neurological symptoms during hospitalization, 50 percent continued to have symptoms on follow-up (odds ratio,∞). Similarly, persistence was reported by 57 percent of the 28 patients with psychiatric symptoms (odds ratio, 5.00) and 42 percent of the 18 patients with sleep disturbance during hospitalization (odds ratio, 1.9). Compared with the control group, the aggregate of neurological, psychiatric, and sleep symptoms during admission and at follow-up was significantly higher for MIS-C patients requiring intensive care unit admission.

"This study highlights the neuropsychiatric and sleep changes in hospitalized children with MIS-C, and brings attention to the persistence of these symptoms after hospital discharge," the authors write.

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