MYOCARDITIS AND CORONARY DILATATION IN THE 1ST WEEK OF LIFE - NEONATAL INCOMPLETE KAWASAKI-DISEASE

Acute heart failure in the early neonatal period is rare. Normally it is due to asphyxia, severe septicaemia? a congenital heart malformatio n or a viral myocarditis. Kawasaki disease (KD) as a cause of an neona tal myocarditis is not an established diagnosis. KD is a vasculitis of still unknown origin occurring predominantly in infants and preschool children. KD before the age of 3 months is rare. There are only few r eports about KD in the Ist month. We present a newborn who showed the cardiac symptoms of KD in the 1st week of life with corollary dilatati on and myocarditis. Conclusion The diagnosis of incomplete KD should b e considered not only in infants but also in newborns with signs of my ocarditis and coronary abnormalities. Therapy with gammaglobulins may prevent the sequelae of coronary involvement.