The Relationship Between Severity of Kawasaki Disease and History of Ischemic Heart Disease in the Parents

Abstract

Background: Kawasaki disease (KD) is the most important cause of ischemic heart disease in children. Its pathogenesis is not well understood, but geographic, ethnic and familial pattern of this syndrome is reported. Ischemic heart disease (IHD) in parents can be the result of KD in their children. This is a study on the prevalence of IHD in parents of children with severe and non-severe Kawasaki disease. Objectives: The current study aimed to estimate the prevalence of IHD in the families of children with KD. Patients and Methods: Sixty-one children with Kawasaki disease were admitted from December 21, 2004 to January 21, 2008to Mofid Children Hospital (from one month to thirteen-year old) and 50 patients entered the study. Subjects were divided into the severe (24subjects) and non-severe (26 subjects) groups. All of the parents were called for investigation. Data were analyzed by SPSS ver. 21 software. Results: Thirty-two (64%) subjects were male and 18(36%) were female.(1.8/1), mean age of children was 43 ± 33.1 months, and mean age in the severe and non-severe groups were 53.48 ± 37.26 and 32.19 ± 25.76 month, respectively (CI = 2-38.2, P = 0.02). History of IHD was more common in fathers of children in the severe Kawasaki disease group (P = 0.001) with no mean age difference between them. History of cardiac drug usage and hypertension was more common in the severe Kawasaki group (P = 0.009 and P = 0.046). Conclusions: Results of the current study revealed higher incidence of IHD in fathers of the subjects with severe KD. More investigation of genetic predisposition to Kawasaki disease acquisition is recommended.