Infantile polyarteritis nodosa with mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome treated with long-term corticosteroids.

Clinical and pathologic similarities between infantile polyarteritis nodosa (IPN) and mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome (MLNS, or Kawasaki disease) have suggested that these entities may be different manifestations of the same basic disease process. We have described a boy with IPN/MLNS treated with long-term corticosteroids for more than eight years after the appearance of multiple aneurysms at 11 months of age. Corticosteroid therapy may be appropriate in the treatment of selected patients with IPN/MLNS if based on age and the presence of aneurysms.