Serum Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor as a Predictive Risk Factor for the Occurrence of Coronary Artery Lesions in Kawasaki Disease.
- Author:
Min Hyuk PARK
1
;
Hye Lim JUNG
;
Ju Hee YANG
;
Jung Yeon SHIM
;
Deok Soo KIM
;
Jae Won SHIM
;
Moon Soo PARK
Author Information
1. Department of Pediatrics, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. jungped@samsung.co.kr
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Kawasaki disease;
Coronary artery lesion;
VEGF
- MeSH:
Capillary Permeability;
Coronary Vessels*;
Fever;
Humans;
Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome*;
Platelet Count;
Risk Factors;
Systemic Vasculitis;
Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A*
- From:Journal of the Korean Pediatric Society
2003;46(8):811-816
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
PURPOSE: Kawasaki disease is an acute systemic vasculitis of unknown etiology with a predilection for the coronary arteries. Vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) is a cytokine which promotes vascular permeability and angiogenesis. We investigated serum VEGF(sVEGF) levels in Kawasaki disease to determine whether sVEGF level can be used as a risk factor to predict the occurrence of coronary artery lesions(CAL) in Kawasaki disease. METHODS: We measured sVEGF levels in 11 patients with Kawasaki disease in acute phase(patient group)and 11 normal children(control group) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) method. We investigated the relationship between sVEGF levels and the lumen diameters of coronary artery and other potential CAL risk factors; duration of fever, hemoglobin, WBC counts, platelet counts, ESR, CRP and LDH levels. RESULTS: SVEGF levels of patients in the acute phase of Kawasaki disease(mean 847.9+/-495.7 pg/mL) were significantly higher than that of normal controls(mean 279.9+/-150.6 pg/mL; P<0.05). SVEGF levels showed significant positive correlation with the lumen diameters of the coronary artery(P<0.05, rs=0.75) in the patient group. There was no significant correlation between sVEGF levels and duration of fever or other laboratory measurements. CONCLUSION: Our results support the notion that sVEGF level may be considered as a predictive indicator for the occurrence of coronary artery lesions in Kawasaki disease.
