Inflammatory parameters and soluble cell adhesion molecules in Swedish children with Kawasaki disease: relationship to cardiac lesions and intravenous immunoglobulin treatment

The possible use of inflammatory parameters as a predictor of coronary artery lesions (CAL) and the effect of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) treatment in 30 Swedish children with acute Kawasaki disease were investigated. All the patients were treated with IVIG (2 g/kg) and seven of them had CAL. Ten febrile children, hospitalized for treatment of severe infection, and 15 healthy children served as controls. The levels of soluble E‐selectin and soluble intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)‐1 in the Kawasaki patients were elevated in comparison to healthy, but not in comparison to febrile controls. Paired analysis of our patients before and after IVIG therapy during acute disease revealed lowered levels of C‐reactive protein, interleukin‐6, soluble E‐selectin and soluble ICAM‐1. We found no statistically significant relationships among any of these parameters as a possible predictor of CAL, but three patients with cardiac sequelae demonstrated high values for these inflammatory parameters. These findings may reflect endothelial activation in connection with vasculitis, and the anti‐inflammatory effect of IVIG treatment lowering cytokine levels and subsequently decreasing the expression and shedding of adhesion molecules. In conclusion, we were unable to identify a predictor of CAL in the acute phase. The patients had higher levels of soluble E‐selectin and soluble ICAM‐1 than did afebrile controls, but not febrile controls. The patients’levels of C‐reactive protein, interleukin‐6, soluble E‐selectin and soluble ICAM‐1 were decreased after 1—2 d of IVIG treatment. □Coronary artery lesions, inflammatory parameters, intravenous immunoglobulin, Kawasaki disease, vasculitis