[Kawasaki disease; complications and clinical course. Apropos of 38 cases]

Between January 1978 and December 1991, 38 patients who fulfilled the CDC (Center for Disease Control) criteria for Kawasaki syndrome were admitted to our hospital. We reviewed the clinical data, laboratory tests, ECG and serial echocardiographic studies in order to establish the characteristics of the disease in our environment. There were 23 males and 15 females. The age at presentation ranged from 4 months to 10 years (mean 3.5 years). Extracardiac complications were as follows: arthritis in 12 patients, vesicular hydrops in 2, urinary tract infection in 1 and lymphocytic meningitis in 1. Cardiac involvement was frequent, with 35% of the patients being diagnosed with coronary pathologies (dilatation of coronary arteries in 9 and aneurysm formations in 4). The most usual location of these anomalies was in the left main coronary artery. By the end to the follow-up period, 71% of the lesions had disappeared. The time necessary for this regression was related to the size of the abnormalities. The high incidence of cardiac involvement make it necessary to follow these patients for a period of time in order to prevent or to treat the later occurring sequelae.