title: Meta-analysis of risk factors associated with atherosclerosis in patients with Kawasaki disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Kawasaki disease (KD) has now become the leading cause of acquired heart disease among children in developed countries. This study investigated whether patients with KD have an increased risk of atherosclerosis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Electronic databases, including PubMed, Embase and Springer link, were searched through June 1, 2015, for eligible studies. Studies were included when they met the following criteria: 1) an observational study focusing on evaluating the risk factors for atherosclerosis in patients with KD; 2) KD was diagnosed clinically according to the Japan Kawasaki Disease Research Committee or American Heart Association's diagnostic criteria; 3) the study subjects were KD patients without coronary heart disease or related cardiovascular disease (KD group) and non-KD patients as control (control group), and 4) investigation of important atherosclerosis risk factors, total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), triglycerides (TG), systolic blood pressure (SBP), and flowmediated dilatation (FMD). The methodological quality of the included studies was evaluated using the Newcastle- Ottawa Scale. Mean difference (MD) and relative risk (RR) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used to calculate the pooled results.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixteen studies were included with a total of 870 patients, including 421 KD patients and 449 non-KD controls. Differences in TG and SBP between KD patients and controls were not significant; in contrast, TC and LDL levels were significantly higher in KD patients than the controls, whereas FMD in the KD patients was significantly lower.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  KD patients may have an increased risk of developing atherosclerosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Shanghai Children's Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Han
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Center, Shenzhen Children's Hospital, Shenzhen, China.
authors.forename: Ming-Guo
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Shanghai Children's Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China. naijileix@aliyun.com.
authors.forename: Li-Jian
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Shanghai Children's Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Shanghai Children's Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Shanghai Children's Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Ting-Ting
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Xiao
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood*; D015897:Comorbidity; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D009080:Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D015996:Survival Rate
chemical_list: D002784:Cholesterol
keywords: Kawasaki disease; atherosclerosis; flow-mediated dilatation; meta-analysis; total cholesterol