Fully automated quantitative stress perfusion cardiac MRI to assess myocardial perfusion in adult patients with convalescent Kawasaki disease and coronary aneurysms: an age and sex-matched analysis

Abstract

Abstract Introduction Coronary aneurysms are a well-documented complication of childhood Kawasaki disease. They may persist into adulthood predisposing to impaired myocardial blood flow, symptoms, and adverse cardiovascular events. Preliminary reports suggest that Kawasaki disease may also be associated with coronary microvascular dysfunction. The effect of coronary involvement from Kawasaki disease on myocardial perfusion in convalescent asymptomatic adults has not been studied using fully automated inline quantitative perfusion MRI (CMR). Purpose To assess the effect of coronary artery abnormalities on quantitative myocardial perfusion in adult patients with convalescent Kawasaki disease compared to an age and sex-matched control cohort. Methods Retrospective single centre cohort analysis of adult patients with convalescent Kawasaki disease who have undergone fully automated inline quantitative myocardial stress perfusion CMR. All patients had coronary involvement during their acute childhood illness. An age and sex-matched group (n=14) with normal CMRs was selected for comparison. Rest MBF was corrected for heart rate by dividing by the scan heart rate and multiplying by the mean resting heart rate among all subjects. A per-vessel analysis was performed using a linear mixed effects model with pairwise comparisons to assess the effect of coronary abnormalities (normal, aneurysmal with or without thrombosis, revascularised) on myocardial perfusion reserve (MPR). Results 28 patients were included (14 Kawasaki; 14 controls). All patients in the Kawasaki cohort had assessment of coronary anatomy either by CT (93%) or invasive (7%) coronary angiography. A total of 84 vessels were analysed. Mean age and sex were well matched (Kawasaki: 27±6.2 years; 13 males : 1 female vs. controls: 27±6.4 years; 13 males : 1 female). In patients with Kawasaki disease, thrombosed aneurysmal arteries were associated with a significantly impaired MPR compared to normal (mean Δ: -0.817; P=0.003) and aneurysmal (mean Δ: -0.957; P<0.001) arteries. MPR in aneurysmal and revascularised arteries were not significantly different from normal arteries in patients with Kawasaki disease. There was no significant difference in MPR between normal coronary arteries in patients with Kawasaki compared to controls. Conclusions Thrombosis in coronary aneurysms was associated with a significant impairment of myocardial perfusion in adult patients with convalescent Kawasaki disease. There was no significant reduction in perfusion in territories supplied by normal or aneurysmal arteries which does not support coronary microvascular dysfunction in these patients. Further studies are needed to confirm these preliminary findings.