Cardiology in the young
September 24, 2026 · via Europe PMC
Serious cardiac events in the COVID-19 era in the paediatric population: what did we learn?
Safi D, Toutounji K, Arabi M.
AI summary — for doctors, generated from the abstract only
This review comparing COVID-19-related serious heart events between children and adults found that while adults face increased cardiac risk directly from COVID-19 infection, children's serious cardiac events are rare and mostly linked to a specific post-infection inflammatory syndrome, highlighting the need for age-specific approaches to risk assessment and monitoring.
What was studied
A narrative review comparing the incidence, mechanisms, and outcomes of serious cardiac events related to COVID-19 between adult and pediatric populations, synthesizing peer-reviewed literature from 2019-2025 including systematic reviews, clinical reports, and cohort analyses, identifying key gaps in research and clinical practice between the two age groups.
Key findings
- This is a narrative review; no new original patient outcome data are reported.
- COVID-19 infection is linked to an increased risk of serious cardiac events in adults, while vaccine-related cardiac complications remain uncommon in this group.
- Pediatric serious cardiac events are rare but frequently associated with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, with rare documented vaccine-associated deaths also noted in this population; age-dependent differences exist in the severity and prognosis of COVID-19-related myocarditis, arrhythmias, and long QT syndrome.
Clinical relevance
This review highlights distinct risk profiles for serious cardiac events related to COVID-19 between children and adults, underscoring the need for age-appropriate risk assessment, targeted screening methods, and focused public health initiatives tailored to each population's specific cardiac vulnerabilities related to the virus and its vaccines.
Who should care
Limitations
This is a narrative review rather than a systematic review with formal quality assessment; it synthesizes existing literature and identifies gaps rather than presenting new primary research data.
This review found that COVID-19 poses different cardiac risks to children versus adults, with adults facing more direct infection-related heart risk and children's rare serious heart events mostly tied to a specific post-infection inflammatory syndrome, highlighting the need for different monitoring approaches by age group.
This is an AI-generated summary of the published abstract, not a clinical recommendation. It may not reflect the full text or subsequent updates — verify against the original source before acting on it.
Abstract
Background
Serious cardiac events, which are frequently associated with myocarditis or arrhythmias, pose serious public health concerns. COVID-19 can increase cardiovascular risks by causing cardiac damage, arrhythmias, and multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children. However, important knowledge gaps about the long-term cardiac effects of COVID-19 still exist. These lead to the possibility of unusual or delayed cardiac consequences and the requirement for specialised monitoring techniques to reduce potential risks, particularly in high-risk populations. This narrative review compares serious cardiac event incidence, mechanisms, and outcomes in adults and children.
Methods
Data were gathered from peer-reviewed studies between 2019 and 2025, such as systematic reviews, clinical reports, and cohort analyses. Focus was placed on the potential contribution of COVID-19-related cardiac events. Key research and clinical practice gaps were identified by analysing paediatric and adult populations in terms of diagnostic methods, management techniques, and long-term results.
Results
While vaccine-related cardiac complications are still uncommon, COVID-19 infection is linked to an increased risk of serious cardiac events in adults. Paediatric serious cardiac events, on the other hand, are rare but frequently associated with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, and there have been rare, documented vaccine-associated deaths in this population.
Conclusion
Significant findings reveal clear patterns in serious cardiac events mechanisms, with age-dependent differences in the severity and prognosis of COVID-19-related myocarditis, arrhythmias, and long QT syndrome, among others. These variations highlight the necessity of age-appropriate risk assessment and management techniques. In the context of COVID-19, these findings highlight distinct risk profiles for serious cardiac events, underscoring the need for targeted screening methods and focused public health initiatives.
DOI
10.1017/s1047951126123956
PMID
42779283
Research metadata (titles, abstracts, authors, publication dates) is sourced from Europe PMC, which aggregates content from PubMed/MEDLINE, PubMed Central, and other providers under the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM/NCBI). NLM does not claim copyright on abstracts; the original journal publishers or authors may hold rights to the full articles. AI-generated summaries are derived only from the abstract, never the full text, and are always labeled as AI-generated.
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