Evaluation and follow-up of left ventricular function in children with Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia using cardiac magnetic resonance feature tracking.

BACKGROUND

Recently, there has been a resurgence in the incidence of Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (MPP) among children, but little is known about Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP) infection in children's hearts.

METHODS

Children diagnosed with MPP received non-contrast cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) assessments during hospitalization and at three months following discharge. A control group consisting of healthy children was also included.

RESULTS

Children with MPP exhibited significantly decreased left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (EF), LV cardiac output (CO), LV cardiac index (CI), LV end-diastolic volume (EDV)/body surface area (BSA), LV stroke volume (SV)/BSA, and LV global longitudinal strain (GLS) compared to controls (p < 0.05). The global native T1 and T2 values of the baseline group were higher than those of controls (p < 0.05). The follow-up group showed improvements in LV SV/BSA, LVEF, right ventricle (RV) EF, heart rate (HR), LV GLS, LV global radial strain (GRS), and LV global circumferential strain (GCS) compared to three months prior, but maintained lower LV CI, LV EDV/BSA, LV end-systolic volume (ESV)/BSA, and LV SV/BSA compared to the control group (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection might affect LV function in children. The LVEF and myocardial strain generally show good recovery after three months, although some children may continue to exhibit abnormalities in other cardiac function parameters or imaging signs of cardiac inflammation.