Clinical Characteristics of Kawasaki Disease in Children with Different Age Groups: A Literature Review and Retrospective Study

• Published in: Current pharmaceutical design Vol. 29; no. 19; p. 1516
• Main Authors: Huang, Baoying, Tan, Weiping, Liao, Shan, Jiang, Wei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United Arab Emirates 01.01.2023
• Subjects: Child; Coronary Artery Disease - drug therapy; Humans; Immunoglobulins, Intravenous - therapeutic use; Infant; Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome - diagnosis; Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome - drug therapy; Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome - epidemiology; Retrospective Studies; Shock - drug therapy; Kawasaki syndrome; diagnostic criteria; coronary artery injury; glucocorticoids; children; clinical features
• DOI: 10.2174/1381612829666230609162009

Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute self-limiting systemic vascular disease commonly observed in children less than 5 years of age. The present study comparatively assesses the clinical characteristics of children diagnosed with KD in different age groups. Furthermore, a comprehensive literature review on the clinical features and diagnostic guidelines of KD is performed. This was a retrospective study conducted on the data of KD children admitted to the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hospital, Guangzhou, China, from January 2016 to December 2018. The children were divided into 3 age groups, including children < 1 year of age (group A, n = 66), 1-5 years of age (group B, n = 74), and children > 5 years of age (group C, n = 14). Complete clinical evaluation, hematological, and cardiovascular assessments were conducted and compared between the three groups. The time of diagnosis, hemoglobin, and neutrophil ratio of children in group A were significantly lower than the other two groups (p < 0.05), while the platelet count was significantly higher (p < 0.05). The proportion of incomplete KD (iKD) was the greatest in group A (40.9%), while the proportion of children with increased coronary Z value and aseptic meningitis was greater than that in group B (p < 0.0167). Group A showed less patients with KD shock syndrome (KDSS) than the other two groups (p < 0.05). Group B showed the greatest number of patients with arthralgia compared to the other two groups (p < 0.05). Three groups showed no significant difference to intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) therapy (p > 0.05). The younger the age of KD onset, the more atypical the conditions are, with a greater risk of affecting other systems and a higher incidences of coronary artery disease. An early treatment with glucocorticoids might be helpful in older children and those with a greater high-risk KD warning score to prevent coronary injury.