ASPO029 - Obstructive Sleep Apnea as an Independent Risk Factor for Increased Rate of Hospitalization due to COVID-19 in Pediatric Patients, 18 Years or Younger
Saturday, April 30, 2022
1:55 PM – 2:30 PM CT
Location: Landmark C
homas T. Huang, B.S., Kiley Trott, M.D.
Yale Otolaryngology, Yale Sch. of Med., New Haven, CT.
Medical Student Yale School of Medicine New Haven, Connecticut
Introduction: COVID-19 is a severe respiratory disease that acts through the angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). The episodic hypercapnia and hypoxemia in OSA have been associated with sympathetic activation and inflammation that may contribute to the cytokine storm that occurs in COVID-19 patients. OSA has been posited to potentiate the severity of COVID-19 infection through activation of the angiotensin-aldosterone system. While OSA has been established as significantly associated with adverse health outcomes in COVID-19 in the adult population, there still exists a knowledge gap in the predisposition of OSA in pediatric patients diagnosed with COVID-19.
Methods: This is a retrospective review of pediatric patients, 18 years or younger, with pre-existing diagnosis of OSA or without pre-existing diagnosis of OSA diagnosed with COVID-19 between January 2020 to July 2021. Information pertaining to demographics, pre-diabetes and diabetes, obesity, asthma, prematurity, and CHD were used to help determine the independence of OSA as a risk factor.
Results:Of the 50 pediatric patients that were diagnosed with COVID-19 and had OSA as a pre-existing condition, 20 (40%) were admitted which was significant compared to the group of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 without OSA as a pre-existing condition (9.76% of 594 pediatric patients, p<0.00001). The average length of stay for patients with OSA as a pre-existing condition was 7.16 days, which was significantly greater than the length of stay of COVID-19+ patients without OSA (4.76 days, p = 0.007168).
Conclusion: Pediatric patients with OSA as a pre-existing condition prior to infection with COVID-19 are more likely to be hospitalized due to COVID-19. In addition, patients with OSA as a pre-existing condition experience lengthier hospitalizations due to COVID-19. This suggests a more severe COVID-19 course in pediatric patients with OSA.