Journal of Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery

Background: Composition of materials can be determined by dual-energy computed tomography (CT), which we used to analyze coronary arterial calcifications following Kawasaki disease (KD) using effective atomic number (EAN).

Methods and Results: We studied coronary calcifications measuring more than 1 mm in 11 post-KD patients. Age of KD onset ranged from under 1 year to 6 years old (median, 3), while age at imaging ranged from 15 to 45 years (median, 36). We reframed the field of view as 6.0 cm images and randomly placed 3 regions of interest (ROI) 0.7 mm in diameter within each calcification. We calculated averages and displayed histograms of distributions of median, minimal, and maximal EANs, and correlated medians with clinical variables. Medians averaged 13.27±0.83; minima, 12.80±0.93; and maxima, 13.59±0.72. The median was similar to that for atherosclerotic coronary arterial calcifications. EANs in KD differed significantly, according to age at KD onset.

Conclusions: Compositions of coronary arterial calcifications following KD resembled those in atherosclerosis, irrespective of additional factors. Clinical coronary events in KD should be assessed carefully, including characteristics of related arterial calcifications.