Kawasaki disease and cardiac involvement: an update on the state of the art.

Kawasaki disease and cardiac involvement: an update on the state of the art. J Biol Regul Homeost Agents. 2020 Jul-Aug;34(4 Suppl. 2):47-53 Authors: SPECIAL ISSUE: FOCUS ON PEDIATRIC CARDIOLOGY, Conti G, Giannitto N, De Luca FL, Salpietro A, Oreto L, Viola I, Ceravolo A, Nicocia G, Sio A, Romeo M, Ceravolo G, Cuppari C, Calabrò MP, Chimenz R Abstract Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute systemic vasculitis of unknown etiology. It has a self-limiting course and so far, represents the most common cause of coronary heart disease acquired in children aged between 6 months and 5 years. The inflammatory process can involve the coronary arteries with the formation of aneurysms and thrombotic occlusions with the risk of sudden death, especially in infants. Myocardial inflammation and abnormalities of cardiac contractility can occur acutely or many years after the disease onset. Therapy must be started within 10 days after the onset of symptoms to reduce the risk of heart complications. Immunoglobulin and aspirin treatment are effective in reducing heart complications. Recent studies have shown new therapeutic strategies (corticosteroids, immunosuppressive and biological drugs) in case of ineffectiveness of treatment with immunoglobulins. PMID: 33000600 [PubMed - in process]
Source: Journal of Biological Regulators and Homeostatic Agents - Category: Biomedical Science Tags: J Biol Regul Homeost Agents Source Type: research