Diagnostic and Treatment Trends in Children With Kawasaki Disease in the United States, 2006-2015

To evaluate variations in treatment practice and compliance with national guidelines for the diagnostic evaluation of children with Kawasaki disease (KD).

We used the Pediatric Hospital Information System database to analyze demographic, laboratory and treatment data from patients admitted with KD between January 1, 2006, and December 31, 2015.

During the study period, 12,089 children with KD were diagnosed. Nearly all patients had a complete blood cell count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and C-reactive protein ordered. Fewer patients had alanine aminotransferase (48.6%) or a urinalysis (75.3%). A small percentage of children had abdominal imaging (11.5%), neck imaging (5.9%), and lumbar punctures (4.5%), and 36.0% of patients received antibiotic therapy. Obtaining echocardiograms pretreatment and the use of steroids and infliximab significantly increased over the study period (P < 0.001). For patients who failed initial intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) monotherapy, 82.0% received a second dose of IVIG, 7.7% received steroids, 6.5% received infliximab, and 3.9% received combination therapy. Patients receiving infliximab or steroids as second therapy had a higher response rate than those who received only a second IVIG dose (87.9% versus 83.0% versus 73.3%, P < 0.001).

KD remains a challenging diagnosis. Opportunities exist for earlier use of echocardiograms in the evaluation of children with potential KD. Significant variations in practice exist surrounding second-line therapy. Our data suggest superiority of second-line therapy use of infliximab or steroids over IVIG in terms of reducing need for additional therapies. Prospective, controlled studies are needed to confirm this finding.