Transthoracic ultrasonic visualisation of coronary aneurysm, stenosis, andocclusion in Kawasaki disease

Objective-To determine the sensitivity and specificity of our transthoracic echocardiographic technique using high frequency (7.5 MHz) transducers for identification of the presence and type of coronary artery disease in pati ents with Kawasaki disease. Design-The results of the prospective echocardiographic study in each of se ven segments of the four major coronary arteries were compared with the sel ective coronary angiograms. Setting-Kitasato University Hospital. Subjects-60 patients with Kawasaki disease, ranging in age from 8.0 months to 22 years (median, 6.0 years). Results-Adequate echocardiographic images were obtained in 397 (95%) of 420 coronary segments. Coronary angiography showed the presence of coronary an eurysms in 87 segments and stenosis or occlusion in 28. The overall sensiti vity and specificity of cross sectional echocardiography for correctly iden tifying coronary aneurysms were 95% and 99%, respectively; for correctly id entifying coronary stenosis or occlusion the values were 85% and 98% for th e right coronary artery, and 80% and 97% for the left anterior descending c oronary artery Agreement on the presence or absence of coronary aneurysms a nd obstructive lesions on echocardiograms between the two observers was 1.0 and 0.98, respectively. Conclusions-Echocardiography may provide a non-invasive means of identifyin g the presence and type of coronary artery disease in patients with Kawasak i disease.