Findings in the pulmonary vascular bed in the remote phase after Kawasaki disease

Kawasaki disease (KD) is a form of systemic vasculitis that causes chronic changes in arterial walls, including pulmonary arteries. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that pulmonary arterial wall properties and hemodynamics are abnormal after the resolution of KD. Pulmonary arterial input impedance was measured during cardiac catheterization (4.8 ± 4.5 years after disease onset) in 47 consecutive patients (mean age 7.8 ± 5.7 years) with KD and coronary artery lesions (CALs) in the acute phase and 42 control patients (mean age 6.7 ± 4.6 years). Patients with KD were subdivided into 2 groups: 28 with persistent CALs and 19 with regressed CALs. There were no significant differences in characteristic impedance and peripheral vascular resistance between patients with KD and controls. Compared with controls, patients with persistent CALs had significantly lower pulmonary arterial compliance, suggesting increased wall stiffness of the peripheral pulmonary vascular bed (p <0.05, analysis of variance). Patients with persistent CALs also exhibited increased wave reflection compared with other groups (p <0.05, analysis of variance). In conclusion, unlike patients with regressed CALs, patients with persistent CALs have abnormal mechanical properties and hemodynamics of the pulmonary artery after KD. Together with previous reports of abnormal properties of coronary and systemic arteries, these data suggest that KD vasculitis causes chronic changes in arterial wall properties in the entire arterial system to varying degrees and extent. The fate of these abnormalities in the pulmonary bed and other arterial systems and their potential adverse effects must be monitored in long-term follow-up.