George Ofori-Amanfo, MD, Chief of the Division of Pediatric Critical Care at The Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital
George Ofori-Amanfo, MD, discusses a rare but severe inflammatory response seen with children who test positive for COVID-19. These patients presented with severe abdominal pain and low blood pressure, which progressed to shock. Some of the patients also had clinical signs of myocarditis. This inflammation affects the heart muscle and the heart’s electrical system, reducing the heart’s ability to pump and causing abnormal rhythms, or arrhythmias. SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, is the first coronavirus associated with myocarditis.