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Background: While most children with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children have rapid recovery of cardiac dysfunction, little is known about the long-term outcomes regarding exercise capacity. We aimed to compare the exercise capacity among patients with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children versus viral/idiopathic myocarditis at 3–6 months after initial diagnosis. Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study among patients with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children in June 2020 to May 2021 and patients with viral/idiopathic myocarditis in August 2014 to January 2020. Data from cardiopulmonary exercise test as well as echocardiographic and laboratory data were obtained. Inclusion criteria included diagnosis of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children or viral/idiopathic myocarditis, exercise test performed within 3–6 months of hospital discharge, and maximal effort on cardiopulmonary exercise test as determined by respiratory exchange ratio >1.10. Results: Thirty-one patients with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children and 25 with viral/idiopathic myocarditis were included. The mean percent predicted peak VO2 was 90.84% for multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children patients and 91.08% for those with viral/idiopathic myocarditis (p-value 0.955). There were no statistically significant differences between the groups with regard to percent predicted maximal heart rate, metabolic equivalents, percent predicted peak VO2, percent predicted anerobic threshold, or percent predicted O2 pulse. There was a statistically significant correlation between lowest ejection fraction during hospitalisation and peak VO2 among viral/idiopathic myocarditis patients (r: 0.62, p-value 0.01) but not multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children patients (r: 0.1, p-value 0.6). Conclusions: Patients with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children and viral myocarditis appear to, on average, have normal exercise capacity around 3–6 months following hospital discharge. For patients with viral/idiopathic myocarditis, those with worse ejection fraction during hospitalisation had lower peak VO2 on cardiopulmonary exercise test.

Cardiac fitness training in pediatric heart transplant recipients can improve functional capacity. Widespread implementation has been limited mostly due to logistical constraints, specifically related to travel. The aim of this study was to implement and assess a virtual cardiac fitness program for pediatric heart transplant patients.Participants were between the age of 10 and 20 years old. All subjects completed an initial 6MWT, strength/flexibility assessment, and QOL assessment with the PROMIS measurement. Participants then underwent a 16-week intervention with exercise sessions twice weekly for 30 min with a trained exercise physiologist over a virtual platform. At the end of the intervention period, participants repeated a 6MWT, strength/flexibility assessment, and PROMIS measurement. Throughout the study, patients wore a FitBit accelerometer to monitor daily activity levels.Thirteen individuals were enrolled. Mean age was 15.4 years (SD =3.4) with a mean post-transplant period of 9.7 years (SD = 4.3). Session attendance was 83%. Post-intervention measurements showed improvements in 6MWT (median, +21 m, p = .02), push-up repetitions (median, +5 rep, p = .0005), wall-sit duration (median, +10 s, p = .001), plank duration (median, +9 s, p = .03), sit-up repetitions (median, +7 rep, p = .002), and sit and reach distance (median, +5 cm, p = .04). PROMIS measurement showed significant improvements in self-reported fatigue (Δz-score, -7.7, p = .008) and sleep impairment (Δz-score, -5.9, p = .002). Average daily step count increased 1464 steps per day per patient (p = .008).We have demonstrated the successful implementation of a virtual cardiac fitness with excellent adherence and improvement in physical fitness and QOL metrics.