Pathological study of postcoronary arteritis in adolescents and young adults: With reference to the relationship between sequelae of Kawasaki diseaseand atherosclerosis
K. Takahashi et al., Pathological study of postcoronary arteritis in adolescents and young adults: With reference to the relationship between sequelae of Kawasaki diseaseand atherosclerosis, PEDIAT CARD, 22(2), 2001, pp. 138-142
To clarify whether the cardiac sequelae of Kawasaki disease (KD), postcoron
ary arteritis lesions can become a risk factor for atherosclerosis of the c
oronary arteries, six autopsy cases of patients older than 15 years of age
with coronary arterial lesions caused by arteritis in childhood were examin
ed histologically. Twenty-four arteries were inspected: 10 had no evidence
of aneurysm formation, 7 arteries manifested simple dilatation of the lumen
, and in 7 arteries there were aneurysms with recanalization. In the group
in which there were no aneurysms, "new intimal thickening" was observed in
addition to the preexisting intimal thickening which had been caused by art
eritis in the acute phase of KD. In the second group with aneurysmal arteri
es whose lumen remained dilated, thrombotic occlusion occurred in 4 of 6 an
eurysms. In addition, advanced atherosclerotic changes (i.e., complicated l
esions) were found in a 39-year-old patient. Finally, in the third group of
arteries which manifested recanalized lumens after thrombotic occlusion of
the aneurysms, new intimal thickening was seen on the internal side and so
me of them were occluded. The findings in this study suggest that aneurysms
present in coronary arteries in individuals with a history of KD constitut
e a risk factor for atherosclerosis later in life.