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In the late 1980s, investigators showed that treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) reduces the incidence of coronary artery aneurysms (CAAs) in children with Kawasaki disease (KD). Nevertheless, CAAs still occur in some children with KD. To determine the risk factors for CAA in the era of routine IVIG treatment, researchers conducted a retrospective case-control study of patients diagnosed with KD from 1991 to 2002. In the California county where this study was performed, 50 to 70 children develop KD annually, with 6.5% developing CAAs.
Of 324 children with KD, 21 developed CAAs; these children were matched to 81 without CAAs. After illness onset, children with CAAs had significantly more days of fever (12.6 vs. 7.1) and more heal…