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Updated: Feb 11, 2026
Phase Contrast Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the Rat Common Carotid Artery
Published on: September 5, 2018
Children with kawasaki disease present elevated stiffness of great arteries: Phase-contrast MRI study
Michal Schäfer1,2, Uyen Truong1, D Dunbar Ivy1
1Division of Cardiology, Heart Institute, Children's Hospital Colorado, University of Colorado Denver, Anschutz Medical Campus, Denver, Colorado, USA.
Insights
Kawasaki disease (KD) patients exhibit increased great vessel stiffness, including the aorta and pulmonary artery, years after diagnosis. This accelerated arterial stiffness does not impact biventricular function in affected youth.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Imaging
- Pediatric Cardiology
- Vascular Biology
Background:
- Kawasaki disease (KD) can lead to extracardiac vascular lesions and arterial stiffening.
- Assessing great vessel stiffness in KD patients is crucial for understanding long-term cardiovascular impact.
Purpose of the Study:
- To noninvasively evaluate great vessel stiffness in patients with diagnosed Kawasaki disease using phase-contrast MRI (PC-MRI).
- To compare arterial stiffness parameters between KD patients and healthy controls.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective review of 33 KD patients and 15 controls.
- Phase-contrast MRI (PC-MRI) with free-breathing sequence on 1.5T or 3.0T systems.
- Assessment of pulse-wave velocity (PWV) and relative area change (RAC) in the aorta and main pulmonary artery (MPA).
Main Results:
- KD patients demonstrated significantly elevated PWV and reduced RAC in the ascending aorta, descending aorta, and MPA compared to controls.
- No significant associations were found between vessel stiffness indices and ventricular size/function or KD severity markers.
Conclusions:
- Patients with Kawasaki disease exhibit elevated great vessel stiffness in the chronic stage.
- Accelerated arterial stiffness in KD does not appear to affect biventricular function in youth.
Background:
Patients with diagnosed Kawasaki disease (KD) are known to develop extracardiac vascular lesions and are prone to accelerated stiffening of medium-size arteries.
Purpose:
To noninvasively evaluate great vessel (central aorta and main pulmonary artery (MPA)) stiffness using phase-contrast MRI (PC-MRI).
Study Type:
Retrospective review.
Subjects:
Thirty-three patients with previously diagnosed KD and 15 control subjects underwent PC-MRI evaluation.
Field Strength/Sequence:
A free-breathing PC-MRI sequence was applied with Cartesian encoding and retrospective sorting using a 1.5 or 3.0T system.
Assessment:
We evaluated regionally specific vessel stiffness using pulse-wave velocity (PWV) and relative area change (RAC) at the ascending aorta, descending aorta, and MPA.
Statistical Tests:
Hemodynamics among patients with KD and controls were compared using Student's t-test, Wilcoxon Rank-sum, and χ2 . Additional group-specific comparisons were performed using Kruskal-Wallis or one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA).
Results:
Patients with KD showed elevated PWV in both ascending (5.0 ± 1.2 vs. 2.4 ± 0.5, P < 0.001) and descending aorta (4.4 ± 2.1 vs. 2.8 ± 0.8, P < 0.001). RAC was correspondingly reduced in both segments (both P < 0.01). PWV measured in MPA was increased in KD patients (2.2 ± 0.5 vs. 1.5 ± 0.6, P = 0.045) while the RAC was reduced (34 ± 6 vs. 47 ± 3, P = 0.045). There were no associations between considered vessel stiffness indices and respective ventricular size and function, functional indices, and no correlations were observed with KD severity markers.
Data Conclusion:
Patients with KD have elevated great vessel stiffness measured at the chronic stage of the disease. Accelerated stiffness process does not appear to affect biventricular function in youth Level of Evidence: 1 Technical Efficacy: Stage 2 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2018;47:1228-1236.
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