Infliximab treatment for refractory Kawasaki disease with coronary artery aneurysm.

Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) is considered to be 1 of the factors that induce vasculitis, including coronary artery aneurysm (CA), in Kawasaki disease (KD), because the blood concentration of TNF-α is higher in patients with CA compared with those without. Therefore, an anti-TNF-αagent (infliximab) was administered to a 1-month-old girl with refractory KD complicated by CA and subsequently, the CA improved and KD was controlled without complications 20 months after the onset. (Circ J 2008; 72: 850 - 852)