PurposeThe purpose of this prospective case-control study was to survey the detection rate of respiratory viruses in children with Kawasaki disease (KD) by using multiplex reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and to investigate the clinical implications of the prevalence of respiratory viruses during the acute phase of KD.MethodsRT-PCR assays were carried out to screen for the presence of respiratory syncytial virus A and B, adenovirus, rhinovirus, parainfluenza viruses 1 to 4, influenza virus A and B, metapneumovirus, bocavirus, coronavirus OC43/229E and NL63, and enterovirus in nasopharyngeal secretions of 55 KD patients and 78 control subjects.ResultsVirus detection rates in KD patients and control subjects were 32.7% and 30.8%, respectively (P=0.811). However, there was no significant association between the presence of any of the 15 viruses and the incidence of KD. Comparisons between the 18 patients with positive RT-PCR results and the other 37 KD patients revealed no significant differences in terms of clinical findings (including the prevalence of incomplete presentation of the disease) and coronary artery diameter.ConclusionA positive RT-PCR for currently epidemic respiratory viruses should not be used as an evidence against the diagnosis of KD. These viruses were not associated with the incomplete presentation of KD and coronary artery dilatation.

Background and ObjectivesThis study was intended to test how the inflammation at the Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) inoculation site (BCGitis) can be a useful a diagnostic feature of Kawasaki disease (KD).Subjects and MethodsAll subjects were infants at the time of admission, and had received BCG vaccination during their neonatal period. There were 54 patients with complete KD (group 1) and 29 patients with incomplete KD (group 2). All 83 patients had BCGitis during the acute phase of illness. Data regarding the coronary artery diameters in 31 age-matched controls were used for comparison.ResultsThe 2 patient groups did not differ in clinical and laboratory variables. During the acute phase, the median z scores of the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) diameter were 0.20, 0.42, and -0.48 in groups 1, 2, and control respectively, and that of right coronary artery (RCA) diameters were -0.15, -0.16, and -1.17 respectively. The z scores in both patient groups were greater than those in controls (p=0.0014 in LAD and p<0.0001 in RCA between group 1 and controls; p=0.0023 in LAD and p<0.0001 in RCA between group 2 and controls). A similar pattern was observed during the subacute and convalescent phases.ConclusionBCGitis is a useful feature in the diagnosis of incomplete KD in infants who received BCG vaccine during neonatal period.

Ebstein's anomaly is frequently detected before birth, with prenatal detection accounting for the majority of cases in the current population. This study aimed to identify the outcome variables among these infants. The medical records of 59 patients with neonatal Ebstein's anomaly managed at the Asan Medical Center between January, 2001 and June, 2012 were investigated retrospectively. In 46 cases, the diagnosis was made prenatally. Surgical/interventional procedures were performed for 27 of the analyzed patients. Biventricular repair was successful for 12 patients but not for 9 patients with pulmonary atresia. The median follow-up period was 1.96 years (range 0.0-10.4 years). The overall mortality rate was 23.7 % (14/59). Of the 14 deaths, 5 occurred within several hours after birth. The 1- and 5-year survival rates were 78.6 and 76.3 %, respectively. Univariate analysis identified several variables related to the time to death: fetal distress (p = 0.002), prematurity (p = 0.036), low birth weight (p = 0.003), diameter of the atrial septal defect (p = 0.022), and pulmonary stenosis/atresia (p = 0.001). Neither the Carpentier classification (p = 0.175) nor the Celermajer index (p = 0.958) was a significant variable. According to the multivariate analysis, fetal distress (p = 0.004) and pulmonary atresia/stenosis (p < 0.001) were significant determinants of outcome. In conclusion, fetal distress and pulmonary atresia/stenosis are significant predictors of mortality in the current population of patients with neonatal Ebstein's anomaly. A close cooperation of associated clinicians is required for an improvement in outcome. To establish a better surgical strategy for patients with Ebstein's anomaly and pulmonary atresia, studies of larger populations are required.