Difference Between Persistent Aneurysm, Regressed Aneurysm, and Coronary Dilation in Kawasaki Disease: An Optical Coherence Tomography Study.

BACKGROUND: Coronary artery (CA) aneurysms are a serious complication of Kawasaki disease (KD). Conventional imaging techniques often described segments with regressed aneurysms as normal, whereas studies have shown significant endothelial dysfunction. METHODS: KD patients with aneurysms scheduled for routine coronary angiography underwent optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging between 2013 and 2016. Microstructural coronary changes were compared between normal CA segments and those with dilation, regressed aneurysms, and persistent aneurysms. RESULTS: OCT was performed on 33 patients aged 12.0 ± 5.4 years, 8.5 ± 5.4 years after KD diagnosis. Of the 79 segments analyzed, 25 had persistent aneurysms, 22 regressed aneurysms, 11 CA dilation, and 21 no CA involvement. Intimal thickness was 489 ± 173 µm, 304 ± 158 µm, 102 ± 68 µm, and 63 ± 29 µm, respectively (P < 0.001). There was a linear correlation between the maximum aneurysm size and the intimal thickness, as well as coronary dimension at the time of OCT. Fibrosis (54 segments, 68%) and cellular infiltration (22 segments, 28%) were found more often in segments with CA involvement, but also those without (P = 0.01; P = 0.02). Destruction of the media (34 segments, 43%), calcifications (6 segments, 8%), neovascularization (18 segments, 23%), and white thrombi (8 segments, 10%) were found almost exclusively in segments with a history of aneurysms. CONCLUSIONS: Intimal hyperplasia, fibrosis, and cellular infiltration were found in all categories of CA involvement, whereas calcification, destruction of the media, neovascularization, and white thrombi were found essentially only in segments with saccular or fusiform aneurysms. Prospective studies with outcome correlations are needed to see if this is associated with an increased risk of late adverse events.

Coronary Wall Structural Changes in Patients With Kawasaki Disease: New Insights From Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT).

BACKGROUND: Coronary artery aneurysms (CAA) are serious complications of Kawasaki disease (KD). Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a high-resolution intracoronary imaging modality that characterizes coronary artery wall structure. The purpose of this work was to describe CAA wall sequelae after KD. METHODS AND RESULTS: KD patients scheduled for routine coronary angiography underwent OCT imaging between March 2013 and August 2014. Subjects' clinical courses, echocardiography, and coronary angiography examinations were reviewed retrospectively. OCT was performed in 18 patients aged 12.4±5.5 years, 9.0±5.1 years following onset of KD. Of those, 14 patients (77.7%) had a history of CAA (7 with giant CAA and 7 with regressed CAA at time of OCT). Intracoronary nitroglycerin was given to all patients (88.4±45.5 µg/m(2)). Mean radiation dose was 10.9±5.2 mGy/kg. One patient suffered from a transitory uneventful vasospasm at the site of a regressed CAA; otherwise no major procedural complications occurred. The most frequent abnormality observed on OCT was intimal hyperplasia (15 patients, 83.3%) seen at both aneurysmal sites and angiographically normal segments amounting to 390.8±166.0 µm for affected segments compared to 61.7±17 µm for unaffected segments (P<0.001). Disappearance of the media, and presence of fibrosis, calcifications, macrophage accumulation, neovascularization, and white thrombi were seen in 72.2%, 77.8%, 27.8%, 44.4%, and 33.3% of patients. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, OCT proved safe and insightful in the setting of KD, with the potential to add diagnostic value in the assessment of coronary abnormalities in KD. The depicted coronary structural changes correspond to histological findings previously described in KD.