Cardiac and coronary arterial involvement in infants and children from new England with mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome (Kawasaki disease): Angiocardiographic-echocardiographic correlations

Abstract

Forty-four patients, aged 6 months to 11 years, meeting the clinical criteria for mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome (Kawasaki disease) were studied from March 1980 to March 1981. A protocol was designed for evaluation of cardiac involvement including electrocardiogram, chest X-ray film, cardiac enzyme determinations and M mode and two dimensional echocardiograms. Aspirin was given during the acute febrile period as an anti-inflammatory agent in a dosage of 100 mg/kg per day; followed by 30 mg/kg per day for 10 weeks or longer if platelet counts were elevated. Angiocardiography was performed in 38 patients. Twenty-one patients (48 percent) showed abnormal M mode echocardiographic findings (flat or greatly decreased ventricular septal motion, pericardial effusion or decreased left ventricular function) during the acute febrile stage. Coronary artery disease developed in seven patients, all of whom had abnormal M mode echocardiographic abnormalities in the acute stage. Five patients had coronary aneurysms and two patients had dilated coronary arteries. Two dimensional echocardiograms identified coronary arterial lesions accurately if present proximally but failed to detect aneurysms beyond 1.5 cm from the aortic root. The study shows that serial M mode and two dimensional echocardiograms provide sufficient information to rule out cardiac involvement in Kawasaki disease. Echocardiograms should be obtained every 3 to 4 days during the acute febrile stage because all patients with coronary artery disease detected with angiography had abnormal echocardiographic findings during that period.