Clinical profile and immediate outcome of the multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children: Retrospective observational single center study from the United Arab Emirates

Background: Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) is a post-viral complication that has been described among children after 2-6 weeks of exposure to the COVID-19 virus from various parts of the world. However, published literature regarding MIS-C from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is limited. The aim of this study was to investigate the demographic details, clinical, radiological and laboratory findings, disease management, and clinical outcomes of a larger group of patients from UAE presenting with features of MIS-C. Subjects and Methods: This hospital-based retrospective observational study was conducted among children between the age of 1 month and 12 years, hospitalized in the pediatric intensive care unit of a tertiary care hospital in Sharjah, from September 2020 to October 2021. Results: Our study population belonged to various nationalities from the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa. The median interquartile range age of our patient population was 7.5 (4-10) years. All the study participants presented with fever lasting for a mean duration of 5.17 days. About 93.33% and 83.33% of the patients presented with gastrointestinal and cardiovascular symptoms, respectively. MIS-C overlapping with Kawasaki disease was the most common phenotype. All the patients received intravenous immunoglobulin and steroids. There was only one death in our study cohort. Conclusions: Although our patient population belonged to mixed ethnicity most characteristics of our MIS-C patients were very similar to that of other cohorts in terms of clinical, laboratory features, and response to treatment.