Cardiovascular risk factors after Kawasaki disease: A case-control study (original) (raw)

in brachial arteries. 8-10 Abnormal endothelial function may be a very early precursor in the atherosclerotic process. 11-14 The interaction of cardiovascular risk factors is well known both in adult and pediatric populations 15-17 but has not been optimally defined in patients with Kawasaki disease. We sought to determine the cardiovascular risk profiles of patients who have had Kawasaki disease and to relate them to noninvasive measures of endothelial function. METHODS This study was a case-control study. Cases were identified from a Kawasaki disease database of the Division of Cardiology. All patients who had typical Kawasaki disease with at least 5 of 6 diagnostic criteria and who received the diagnosis at least 5 years before the onset of the study were eligible. Preference for enrollment was given to patients living within reasonable proximity of the study institution, and subjects were chosen at random from a stratified list based on degree of original and persistent coronary artery involvement. The control group included normal nonsmoking volunteer adolescents of similar age. All participants gave appropriate informed consent as approved by the institution's Research Ethics Board. The medical records and echocardiograms were reviewed for all of the cases. Both the case and control groups There has been ongoing concern that patients both with and without significant coronary artery involvement after Kawasaki disease may be more prone to have atherosclerotic cardiovascular