Seidel F, Kuehne T, Kelle S, et al. - In the studied cohort of children who recovered from mildly symptomatic COVID-19 infection (coronavirus disease 2019), absence of myocardial inflammation, fibrosis, or functional cardiac impairment was evident. A small subgroup developed pericardial effusion indicating a mild pericarditis. This suggests a minor clinical relevance of myocardial involvement in children post-mildly symptomatic COVID-19 infections.

• Children who recovered from mildly symptomatic COVID-19 infection between November 2020 and January 2021 as well as healthy children and paediatric patients with biopsy-proven myocarditis (control groups) were included.

• Eighteen children had cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) 38 (24–47) days after positive polymerase chain reaction test, and findings were compared with 7 healthy controls and 9 myocarditis patients.

• Neither cardiac symptoms nor CMR findings consistent with a myocarditis were present in the COVID-19 patients.

• COVID-19 patients’ CMR parameters were not significantly different from healthy controls, but from myocarditis cases.

• Significantly decreased left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction, LV global longitudinal strain, and left atrial strain values as well as increased native T1 values were identified in these vs COVID-19 cases.