Carotid Intima-Media Thickness in Patients With a History of Kawasaki Disease

BACKGROUND Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute pediatric vasculitis with coronary artery aneurysms (CAA) as its main complication. Concerns have been raised regarding the possibility of a predisposition of KD to premature cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk later in life. Our aim was to assess carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT), as a surrogate marker of CVD risk, in patients with a history of KD compared with unaffected controls. METHODS AND RESULTS B-mode ultrasound cIMT measurements were performed in 168 patients with a history of KD, and 82 controls; 7 patients were excluded because of incomplete cIMT assessments. Mean cIMT (±SD) was increased in patients with KD compared with controls (0.378±0.030 mm vs. 0.360±0.027 mm, respectively; P adjusted