Section of Paediatrics, Department of Surgery, Dentistry, Paediatrics and Gynaecology, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
Endocrinology Unit, Section of Paediatrics, Department of Surgery, Dentistry, Paediatrics and Gynaecology, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2021 Mar 16;12:596654. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2021.596654. eCollection 2021.
In early 2020, a novel coronavirus leading to potentially death was discovered. Since then, the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has spread to become a worldwide pandemic. Beyond the risks strictly related to the infection, concerns have been expressed for the endocrinological impact that COVID-19 may have, especially in vulnerable individuals with pre-existing endocrinological health conditions. To date new information is emerging regarding severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in children but the literature is still scarce concerning this infection in patients with intracranial malignant neoplasms. We report a 9-year-old child infected with SARS-CoV-2 and recent diagnosis of suprasellar non-germinomatous germ cell tumor also suffering from diabetes insipidus and hypothalamic-pituitary failure (hypothyroidism, adrenal insufficiency, hypothalamic obesity and growth hormone deficiency) and its clinical course. The patient remained asymptomatic for the duration of the infection without requiring any change in the replacement therapeutic dosages taken before the infection. We then discuss the proposed approach to treat a pediatric patient with SARS-CoV-2 infection and hypothalamic-pituitary failure and we include a review of the literature. Our report suggests that SARS-CoV-2 infection is usually mild and self-limiting in children even those immunocompromised and with multiple endocrinological deficits. Patients are advised to keep any scheduled appointments unless informed otherwise.
2020 年初，一种可能导致死亡的新型冠状病毒被发现。从那时起，2019 冠状病毒病（COVID-19）已经传播成为全球大流行。除了与感染有关的风险外，人们还对 COVID-19 可能对内分泌系统产生的影响表示担忧，尤其是在存在内分泌健康问题的易感染个体中。迄今为止，关于儿童严重急性呼吸系统综合征相关冠状病毒 2（SARS-CoV-2）的新信息不断涌现，但关于颅内恶性肿瘤患者感染 SARS-CoV-2 的文献仍然很少。我们报告了一例 9 岁儿童感染 SARS-CoV-2 并新近诊断为鞍上非生殖细胞生殖细胞瘤，还患有尿崩症和下丘脑-垂体功能衰竭（甲状腺功能减退、肾上腺功能不全、下丘脑肥胖和生长激素缺乏症），并描述了其临床病程。在感染期间，患者一直无症状，无需改变感染前的替代治疗剂量。然后，我们讨论了治疗 SARS-CoV-2 感染和下丘脑-垂体功能衰竭的儿科患者的建议方法，并进行了文献复习。我们的报告表明，即使是免疫功能低下且有多种内分泌缺陷的儿童，SARS-CoV-2 感染通常也较轻且呈自限性。建议患者按时就诊，除非另行通知。
