Background: Comparisons between Kawasaki disease (KD) and Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) have been critiqued, with suggestions that KD Shock Syndrome (KDSS) patients may be a more valid comparison. We compared contemporaneous KD and MIS-C patients, both with and without shock at presentation. Methods: The International KD Registry enrolled 2144 patients with either KD (site diagnosis confirmed by AHA criteria) or MIS-C (site diagnosis confirmed by CDC criteria) from 40 sites in 7 countries from 01/2020 to 01/2023. Data collected included demographics, clinical features and presentation, management, laboratory values, and outcomes, and diagnosis/shock groups were compared. Results: Shock at presentation was noted for 19 of 672 (2.8%) KD patients and 653 of 1472 (38%; p<0.001) MIS-C patients. For both groups, shock patients were significantly more likely to be admitted to ICU, receive inotropes, and have cardiac arrest or arrhythmia. Groups did not differ by sex, but MIS-C patients and shock patients were older. While MIS-C shock patients were less likely to be White, KD shock and MIS-C shock patients more likely to be Black. For inflammatory markers, while shock patients in both groups had higher CRP and ferritin compared to non-shock patients, ESR was similar in both groups to non-shock patients, and higher WBC was only noted for MIS-C shock versus MIS-C non-shock patients. KD shock patients had similar values to MIS-C shock patients, with the exception of lower ferritin. Shock patients had higher NTproBNP (both diagnoses) and Troponin I (MIS-C only). Shock patients had lower LV ejection fraction, more so for MIS-C patients ( Figure A ). KD shock patients had higher max coronary artery Z scores versus MIS-C patients ( Figure B ). Conclusions: KD shock patients are more similar to MIS-C patients, particularly those with shock. Shock was associated with worse coronary artery involvement for KD patients, and worse LV dysfunction for both MIS-C and KD.
The epidemiology of infective endocarditis (IE) changes with the medical advances. This study aimed to evaluate the trends in a pediatric cohort.From hospital database (1983-2011), patients <18 years who fulfilled the modified Duke criteria of IE were identified.We enrolled 112 patients (M/F 57/55) with 116 IE episodes. About 86 patients (74.1%) had preexisting cardiac lesions and 23 patients (19.6%) were immunocompromised hosts. Prior dental procedure was noted in 12 (10.3%) patients, including 4 with simple ventricular septal defect. The overall mortality was 10.7%. The risk factors included vegetations in both ventricles (odds ratio = 7.81, P = .019) and prior use of broad-spectrum antibiotics (odds ratio = 3.75, P = .055). Approximately one-third of the patients (29.3%) required surgical intervention. We identified an increasing trend in the proportion of hospital-acquired IE (from 12% during 1983-1991 to 39% during 2002-2011), and the spectrum of offending pathogens showed a trend for fewer Streptococcus species, more Staphylococcus aureus and increased pathogen diversity. The leading pathogens were Gram-negative bacilli in hospital-acquired IE and Streptococcus species in community-acquired IE. Hospital-acquired IE was associated with younger age, a higher proportion of immunocompromised patients, a history of central line indwelling and higher mortality. In contrast, more surgical intervention and embolic events occurred in community-acquired IE patients.The mortality of pediatric IE remains high. Dental procedures were noted in one-tenth of the patients. Although increased S. aureus-caused episodes and pathogen diversity were noted, Streptococcus species remain the most common pathogen.
Kawasaki disease (KD) is a self-limited systemic vasculitis, most often occurring in children 1⁻5 years old. It has a 2% recurrence rate and is associated with coronary aneurysms (CA), which can develop within two weeks of onset. A 25% increased risk is noted in patients who are recalcitrant to treatment. We describe a patient with recurrence of KD three times, approximately four years apart. A 10-year-old female with two previous episodes of KD, at 11 months and five years of age), in which she met five out of five criteria for KD and had no coronary involvement, presented with 15 days of fever, conjunctivitis and mucocutaneous changes. Infectious work-up was negative, and she was diagnosed with incomplete KD meeting three out of five criteria. An echocardiogram (ECHO) on day 12 revealed dilation of the right coronary artery (RCA) and left coronary artery (LCA). Treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) and high-dose aspirin was started at an outside hospital. After transfer, serial ECHOs showed evolving coronary aneurysms, left anterior descending (LAD) z-score + 8.2 and RCA z-score + 4.0. She received 10 mg/kg infliximab (day 18) and began clopidogrel. A cardiac MRI (day 20) demonstrated progression of the LAD aneurysm, with a z-score + 13, and warfarin was started. To our knowledge, this is the first report of recurrent KD occurring three times at ~5 year intervals.
For children with a history of Kawasaki disease (KD), low grade inflammation was generally reported to be associated with persistent coronary artery lesions (CAL). However, this association has not been clearly demonstrated to hold true in KD adolescents and young adults (10-25 years of age).We enrolled 104 subjects into our study, who were separated into the following 3 groups and controls: 1): 22 KD patients with angiography-confirmed CAL which persisted for an average of 12.5 years after onset of KD; 2) 38 KD patients with regressed aneurysms; 3) 44 KD patients without any coronary complications from the disease onset; and 4) 31 age-matched (18.7 ± 1.88 years old) healthy controls. Plasma levels of high-sensitivity C reactive protein (hs-CRP) were measured for all participants.Plasma levels of hs-CRP were significantly higher in KD patients than in the controls, regardless of their coronary severity. However, there was no significant difference in hs-CRP levels among KD patients with different severities of CAL. Of the candidate risk factors of elevated hs-CRP such as body mass index, gender, coronary severity, and levels of high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, linear regression analysis showed the only independent predictor of hs-CRP levels was BMI (β = 0.306, p = 0.01), rather than patient grouping (p = 0.091).Our study found that levels of hs-CRP are significantly higher in adolescent and young adult patients with a history of KD, compared with age-matched controls. Low grade inflammation may play a minor role when KD patients enter into adulthood. body mass index (BMI), rather than coronary severity, was independently associated with the elevation of hs-CRP levels, one of biomarkers for further cardiovascular event. Therefore, ongoing control and management of BMI may be one of beneficial strategies that can be employed to help avoid elevation of hs-CRP levels in KD patients.Adolescents; High sensitivity-C reactive protein; Kawasaki disease; Young adult.
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