Coronary involvement in infants with Kawasaki disease treated with intravenous gamma-globulin.

AIM: To analyze the clinical spectrum and the incidence of coronary involvement in infants with typical Kawasaki's disease (KD).

PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective study was performed on children one year of age or younger diagnosed from February 1992 to January 2006 with typical KD. Children with incomplete forms of the disease were not included.

RESULTS: Twenty-five infants were diagnosed with KD during the study period. The median age of the patients was 10 months (range, 4-12 months). All children but one received intravenous gammaglobulin (IVIG), 84% before the 10th day of disease. Seven patients (28%) required the administration of more than one dose of IVIG, because persistence of fever. Coronary artery disease (CAD) was recorded in 6 cases (24%), five of them being boys. All patients with CAD were treated with ASA plus IVIG and 84% of them received this therapy within the first 10 days of the KD onset.

CONCLUSIONS: In spite of the exclusion of our study of incomplete presentations and of an early administration of IVIG in our patients, we have observed a high rate of infants who developed CAD, which is similar to the one reported in children who do not receive IVIG.