Doctors of Kanchi Kamakoti CHILDS Trust Hospital (KKCTH) have treated a newborn who was diagnosed with COVID-19 pneumonia and went on to develop lung fibrosis and eye complications.
Doctors said the baby girl was born four weeks before the expected date of delivery to a 23-year-old woman, who had tested positive for COVID-19 a week prior to delivery and remained symptom-free at the time of delivery. The baby’s birth weight was 2.4 kg and was admitted in a government hospital in Andhra Pradesh.
The baby developed fever and breathlessness after a week and was referred to a private hospital in Nellore. She tested positive for COVID-19 and was referred to the KKCTH. The CT scan was suggestive of pneumonia. Her inflammatory markers were high.
N. Chandrakumar, head of the Department of Neonatology, KKCTH, said the baby was treated with steroids and intravenous immunoglobulin. “She required ventilator support for three weeks before successful extubation to lesser modes of respiratory support. Despite no requirement for oxygen support, she continued to remain breathless and could not be fed orally,” he said.
A CT scan showed pulmonary fibrosis with residual ground glass opacities, suggestive of post-COVID infection-related lung fibrosis. The baby had features of brain involvement in the MRI scan that could be related to COVID-19 and her eyes developed retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). The ROP was severe enough to require laser treatment, he said.
The baby had been weaned off the ventilator and would be discharged soon, he added.
