%0 Journal Article
%T Assessment of vascular and endothelial function in Kawasaki disease.
%A Lo MH
%A Lin YJ
%A Kuo HC
%A Wu YH
%A Li TY
%A Kuo HC
%A Lin IC
%J Biomed J
%V 46
%N 2
%D 04 2023 28
%M 35358713
%F 7.892
%R 10.1016/j.bj.2022.03.010
%X Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute febrile vasculitis. Patients with previous KD have increased risk of coronary arterial aneurysms (CAA) and early-onset arteriosclerosis. Endothelial dysfunction is the earliest manifestation of arteriosclerosis. We aimed to explore the endothelial function and clinical characteristics of patients with previous KD.<BR>In this case-control study, we investigated childhood KD patients, with and without CAA, and a group of healthy controls. We obtained the anthropometric measurements, metabolic markers, vascular ultrasonography evaluating arterial stiffness and flow-mediated dilatation (FMD), and clinical information obtained by reviewing the patients' charts. Continuous variables were compared using non-parametric analyses and categorical variables, using the chi-square or Fisher's exact tests.<BR>Seventy KD patients (median current age, 12.95 years; median follow-up duration, 10.88 years) and 14 healthy controls were recruited. FMD was significantly lower in the CAA group (n = 15) than the control group (FMDs: 5.59% [interquartile range, 3.99-6.86%] vs. 7.49% [5.96-9.42%], p = 0.049; diastolic FMD: 6.48% [4.14-7.32%] vs. 7.87% [6.19-9.98%], p = 0.042). The CAA group had a higher percentage of impaired FMD and the significantly largest coronary segments of the three groups. Other parameters including metabolic markers, carotid intima-media thickness, and arterial stiffness were not statistically different.<BR>KD patients, especially those with CAAs, may have impaired endothelial function. FMD may be a good indicator of endothelial dysfunction for use in long-term follow-up of KD patients.