Relationships between coronary artery dilatation and severity of carditis detected by two-dimensional echocardiography and [99mTc]HMPAO-labeled white blood cell heart scan in children with Kawasaki disease.

Forty-one children (15 girls, 26 boys; ages 3.0 +/- 2.1 years) with Kawasaki disease (KD) were included in our study. The diameters of a total of 82 coronary arteries (CA), comprising 41 left (LCA) and 41 right (RCA), were computed by two-dimensional echocardiography (2D-Echo). If the diameter of the CA was > or = 20 mm, it was considered as dilated. The severity of the carditis was evaluated by [99mTc]HMPAO-labeled white blood cell (WBC) heart scans (Tc-WBC) carried out in all cases. On the basis of the results the children were divided into three groups. Group A children had the most severe carditis where the heart uptake was greater than the bone uptake; 11 of 32 (34.3%) of the CA in 16 cases were dilated. Group B had carditis of medium severity where the heart uptake was equal to the bone uptake; 11 of 28 (39.3%) of the CA in 14 cases were dilated. Group C had mild carditis where the heart uptake was less than the bone uptake; 9 of 22 (40.9%) of the CA in 11 cases were dilated. There were no significant differences among the three groups (p = 0.87 by a chi-squared test). We conclude that no definite relationship exists between the severity of carditis and the dilatation of the CA in children with KD.