Y. Nakamura et al., Cardiac sequelae in recurrent cases of Kawasaki disease: A comparison between the initial episode of the disease and a recurrence in the same patients, PEDIATRICS, 102(6), 1998, pp. E661-E665
Objective. Cardiac sequelae develop more frequently after recurrent Kawasak
i disease than from the initial onset of the disease. The purpose of this s
tudy was to observe the existence of the sequelae at the initial and second
onsets of the disease simultaneously with a large cohort.
Materials and Methods. From the database of patients with Kawasaki disease
prepared by the Japanese Kawasaki Disease Research Committee, 559 cases wit
h recurrences recorded between 1989 through 1994 and their initial occurren
ce listed in the database were selected. Their proportions of cardiac seque
lae after the initial and second onsets of Kawasaki disease were compared.
Results. Of the 68 patients with cardiac sequelae after the initial onset,
32 (47%) suffered the sequelae after the second onset, whereas 78 (16%) of
the 491 who were without cardiac sequelae after the initial onset developed
the sequelae after the recurrence. Both proportions were higher than propo
rtions in all patients with Kawasaki disease. In addition to the sex (male)
and the existence of the sequelae after the initial onset, age art the sec
ond onset (older age) and the interval between the two episodes (longer per
iod) were suspected to be risk factors for sequelae attributable to recurre
nt Kawasaki disease.
Conclusion. Linked data of the initial and second episodes of Kawasaki dise
ase showed that the risk of developing cardiac sequelae attributable to rec
urrent Kawasaki disease is high among both those with and without the seque
lae at the initial episode.