ABSTRACT
Objective To study the changes of plasma endothelial microparticles (EMP) in children with Kawasaki disease (KD) and its relation to coronary artery lesions (CAL).Methods The participants in this study were 30 children with KD (24 children with typical KD and 6 cases with incomplete KD).All KD patients met the diagnostic criteria established by the Japanese Kawasaki Disease Research Committee.According to the course of KD,3 phases were divided:the acute phase,the subacute phase and the convalescent phase.We evaluated the presence of CAL using two-dimensional echocardiographic examination,and then the KD children were divided into two groups,including 24 children without CAL and 6 children with CAL.Ten children with fever and rash and 10 healthy children were studied as control.The levels of CD31+/CD42b- EMP were measured by flow cytometry.Results The level of EMP was significantly higher in the acute phase [ (8.18 ± 2.29) ％ ] than those either in the convalescent phase [ (2.77 ± 0.85 ) ％ ] of KD or the healthy children [ ( 1.34 ± 0.38 ) ％ ] (P ＜ 0.01 ).The level of EMP was also significantly higher in the subacute phase [ (5.93 ± 1.05 )％ ] than those either in the convalescent phase of KD or the healthy children (P ＜0.01 ).The level of EMP was higher in the children with fever [ (3.66 ± 1.16) ％ ] than that in the healthy children ( P ＜ 0.05 ).Furthermore,the level of EMP during the acute phase was also higher in KD patients with CAL than in those without CAL(P ＜0.01 ).Conclusion The measurement of EMP may be useful for the early diagnosis of KD and the identification of CAL.