PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Asseri, Ali A. AU - Al-Qahtani, Saleh M. AU - Algathradi, Mohammed A. AU - Alzaydani, Ibrahim A. AU - Al-Jarie, Ahmed A. AU - Al-Benhassan, Ibrahim A. AU - AlHelali, Ibrahim A. AU - Alassiri, Mona S. AU - Alrmelawi, Ali A. AU - Ali, Abdelwahid S. TI - Clinical, laboratory, and chest radiographic characteristics of COVID-19 associated severe pediatric pneumonia. <em>A retrospective study</em> AID - 10.15537/smj.2022.43.12.20220420 DP - 2022 Dec 01 TA - Saudi Medical Journal PG - 1390--1396 VI - 43 IP - 12 4099 - http://smj.org.sa/content/43/12/1390.short 4100 - http://smj.org.sa/content/43/12/1390.full SO - Saudi Med J2022 Dec 01; 43 AB - Objectives: To evaluate the demographics, clinical presentation, laboratory data, chest radiographs, and outcomes of pediatric patients with critical coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).Methods: This retrospective study included 34 children who were diagnosed with severe COVID-19 pneumonia between August 2020 and July 2021. Severe pneumonia was defined as fever, respiratory distress (tachypnea, chest retractions, and hypoxia [oxygen saturation &lt;90% in room air]), and obvious infiltrations on chest radiography.Results: Ages of the patients ranged from newborns to 12 years old, with a median of 24 months (interquartile range: 12-72 months). Preschool-aged children were the most common age group (44%). Levels of inflammatory markers (C-reactive protein, ferritin, and procalcitonin) were elevated in most patients. A total of 13 patients developed severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), while 4 developed multiorgan failure. Despite receiving supportive therapy, 2 (5.9%) patients died due to severe septic shock and multiorgan failure. One deceased patient was born prematurely at 30 weeks, while the other had chronic granulomatous disease.Conclusion: This study described a single-center cohort of pediatric patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia. In this cohort, children with cardiopulmonary comorbidities and ARDS had a high mortality and long-term morbidity, as observed in other pediatric studies.