Parameters to guide retreatment after initial intravenous immunoglobulin therapy in kawasaki disease

We sought to determine parameters to guide the decision of retreatment in patients with Kawasaki disease (KD) who remained febrile after initial intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG).

A total of 129 children with KD were studied prospectively. Patients were treated with IVIG 2 to 9 days after the onset of disease. Laboratory measures, such as white blood cell (WBC), percentage of neutrophils, C-reactive protein (CRP), and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), were determined before and 48 to 72 hours after IVIG treatment. Patients were classified into IVIG-responsive and IVIG-resistant groups, based on the response to IVIG.

Of a total of 129 patients, 107 patients (83%) completely responded to a single IVIG therapy and only 22 patients (17%) required retreatment: 14 had persistent fever and 8 had recrudescent fever. There was no significant difference between the groups in age, gender distribution, and duration of fever to IVIG initiation, but coronary artery lesions developed significantly more often in the resistant group than in the responsive group (31.8% vs. 2.8%, p=0.000). Compared with pre-IVIG data, post-IVIG levels of WBC, percentage of neutrophils, CRP, and NT-proBNP decreased to within the normal range in the responsive group, whereas they remained high in the resistant group. Multivariate logistic regression indicated that neutrophil counts, CRP, and NT-proBNP were independent parameters of retreatment.

Additional therapy at an early stage of the disease should be administered for febrile patients who have high values of CRP, NT-proBNP, and/or neutrophil counts after IVIG therapy.