The strategy of immune globulin resistant Kawasaki disease: a comparative study of additional immune globulin and steroid pulse therapy.
BACKGROUND
We compared the clinical utility of additional intravenous immune globulin (IVIG) therapy with the clinical utility of steroid pulse therapy in patients with IVIG-resistant Kawasaki disease.


METHODS
We enrolled 164 patients with Kawasaki disease who were treated with a single dose of IVIG (2 g/kg) and aspirin (30 mg/kg per day). Twenty-seven of these patients (16%) were resistant to the initial IVIG treatment. We compared the effectiveness of treatment strategies for the initial IVIG-resistant 27 patients, 14 of these patients were treated with additional IVIG therapy, and the other 13 patients were treated with steroid pulse therapy (methylprednisolone 30 mg/kg per day for 3 days).


RESULTS
Three patients in the group receiving additional IVIG treatment had coronary artery aneurysms (21.4%), no patients had coronary artery aneurysm in the steroid pulse therapy group; the difference in the incidence of coronary artery aneurysm was not statistically significant. The duration of high fever after additional treatment in the steroid pulse therapy group (1 ± 1.3 days) was significantly shorter than that in the additional IVIG treatment group (3 ± 2.4 days; P < 0.05). The medical costs were significantly lower in the steroid pulse therapy group than in the additional IVIG treatment group.


CONCLUSIONS
Steroid pulse therapy was useful to reduce the fever duration and medical costs for patients with Kawasaki disease. Steroid pulse therapy and additional IVIG treatment were not significantly different in terms of preventing the development of coronary artery aneurysm.
Ogata
Shohei
S
Department of Pediatrics, Kitasato University, Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan.
Bando
Yuki
Y
Kimura
Sumito
S
Ando
Hisashi
H
Nakahata
Yayoi
Y
Ogihara
Yoshihito
Y
Kaneko
Tadahiro
T
Minoura
Katsunori
K
Kaida
Miho
M
Yokota
Yukifumi
Y
Furukawa
Shinsuke
S
Ishii
Masahiro
M
D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003323:Coronary Aneurysm / Q000150:complications; D004351:Drug Resistance; D005260:Female; D005334:Fever / Q000188:drug therapy; D006801:Humans; D016756:Immunoglobulins, Intravenous / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008775:Methylprednisolone / Q000008:administration & dosage; D009080:Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000191:economics; D020551:Pulse Therapy, Drug; D013256:Steroids / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D014657:Vasculitis / Q000150:complications
D016756:Immunoglobulins, Intravenous; D013256:Steroids; D008775:Methylprednisolone