Kawasaki disease: giant aneurysm with a large thrombus of the left coronary artery

Alakananda Ghosh1, Brojendra N Agarwala2

  • 1Department of Emergency medicine, Rabindra Nth Tagore Hospital, Kolkata, India;

Clinics and Practice
|April 26, 2014
PubMed

Insights

A febrile infant

Area of Science:

  • Pediatrics
  • Cardiology
  • Infectious Diseases

Background:

  • Kawasaki disease (KD) is a pediatric vasculitis affecting medium-sized arteries, primarily the coronary arteries.
  • KD typically presents with prolonged fever and characteristic clinical signs, but atypical presentations occur.

Observation:

  • A six-month-old infant presented with fever and stridor, an uncommon initial symptom for KD.
  • The infant later developed classic signs of Kawasaki disease, including a giant coronary artery aneurysm with thrombosis.

Findings:

  • Aggressive anticoagulation therapy successfully resolved the coronary artery thrombosis.
  • Despite treatment, the giant coronary artery aneurysm persisted one year post-diagnosis.

Implications:

  • Stridor can be an unusual presenting symptom of Kawasaki disease in infants.
  • Giant coronary aneurysms may require long-term monitoring even after successful thrombosis treatment.

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