Mucocutaneous Disease and Related Clinical Characteristics in Hospitalized Children and Adolescents with COVID-19 and MIS-C

Rekhtman, Sergey; Tannenbaum, Rachel; Strunk, Andrew; Birabaharan, Morgan; Wright, Shari; Garg, Amit

Background Little is known about mucocutaneous disease in acutely-ill children and adolescents with COVID-19 and MIS-C. Objective To characterize mucocutaneous disease and its relation to clinical course among hospitalized patients with COVID-19 and MIS-C. Methods Descriptive cohort study of prospectively and consecutively hospitalized eligible patients between May 11, 2020 and June 5, 2020. Results In COVID-19 patients, 4/12 (33%) had rash and/or mucositis, including erythema, morbilliform pattern, and lip mucositis. In MIS-C patients, 9/19 (47%) had rash and/or mucositis, including erythema, morbilliform, retiform purpura, targetoid and urticarial patterns, along with acral edema, lip mucositis, tongue papillitis, and conjunctivitis. COVID-19 patients with rash had less frequent respiratory symptoms, PICU admission, and invasive ventilation, as well as shorter stay (vs COVID-19 without rash). MIS-C patients with rash had less frequent PICU admission, shock, ventilation, as well as lower levels of CRP, ferritin, D-dimer, and troponin (vs MIS-C without rash). Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio was similar for patients with and without rash in both groups. None of the MIS-C patients met criteria for Kawasaki disease. Limitations Small sample sizes. Conclusions Mucocutaneous disease is common among children and adolescents with COVID-19 and MIS-C. Laboratory trends observed in patients with rash may prognosticate a less severe course.