An adult case of Kawasaki disease with multiplex coronary aneurysms and myocardial infarction: the role of transesophageal echocardiography.

Kawasaki disease (mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome) is an acute inflammatory disease that primarily affects infants and young children. In spite of proper therapy, coronary aneurysms develop in 10 to 25% of cases. Adult diagnosis of coronary aneurysm, presumably caused by Kawasaki disease, is rare. A 37-year-old male patient with previous inferior wall myocardial infarction (MI) was admitted with an acute anterior wall MI. Coronary angiography, performed 2 weeks after successful thrombolytic therapy, showed right coronary artery occlusion and multiplex (left main, left anterior descending, left circumflex, right coronary artery) giant coronary aneurysms. Transthoracic echocardiography was unable to detect the aneurysms. Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) visualized a large left main coronary aneurysm with an occlusive thrombus and measured low flow velocity (0.2 m/s) in the proximal left anterior descending artery. At 4 weeks control, TEE showed marked regression of the thrombus, and it was not detectable after 6 months of oral anticoagulation with acenocumarol (International Normalized Ratio: 3-3.5) and standard postinfarction therapy. After 2 years of follow-up, the patient has no symptoms, and myocardial ischemia could not be provoked by stress tests [treadmill, dipyridamole single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)]. We conclude that, for diagnosis and follow-up of adult Kawasaki disease, transesophageal echocardiography is indicated. The importance and efficacy of long-term anticoagulant treatment should be emphasized in this disease.