Coronary arterial involvement and QT dispersion in Kawasaki disease

Coronary artery aneurysms with frequently associated coronary artery stenos es are currently considered the main sequelae in the long-term effects of K awasaki disease.(1) Approximately 1% of patients who recover from acute Kaw asaki disease will develop giant coronary artery aneurysms or coronary arte ry obstruction due to thrombosis or stenosis.(2) Long-term management of pa tients with Kawasaki disease depends on the degree of coronary arterial inv olvement. The American Heart Association (AHA) has recently presented the g uidelines for long-term management of Kawasaki disease.(2) The patients at risk levels IV or V in these guidelines require frequent follow-up because of the severe involvement of the coronary arteries. Earlier detection of my ocardial ischemia will lead to better prognosis of these patients. Recently , some investigators reported that QT dispersion is influenced by myocardia l ischemia or its viability.(3,4) The relation between QT dispersion and co ronary arterial involvement after Kawasaki disease is unknown. In the prese nt study, we investigated QT dispersion in Kawasaki disease as a convenient method to detect severe coronary arterial involvement and myocardial ische mia.