Prediction of nonresponsiveness to mediumdose intravenous immunoglobulin (1 g/kg) treatment: an effective and safe schedule of acute treatment for Kawasaki disease

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Purpose: Medium-dose (1 g/kg) intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) is effective in the majority of patients with Kawasaki disease (KD) but some patients who do not respond to medium-dose IVIG are at high risk for the development of coronary artery lesions (CALs). The purpose of this study was to identify the clinical predictors associated with unresponsiveness to medium-dose IVIG and the development of CALs. Methods: A retrospective study was performed in 91 children with KD who were treated with mediumdose IVIG at our institution from January 2004 to December 2013. We classified the patients into responders (group 1; n=68) and nonresponders (group 2; n=23). We compared demographic, laboratory, and echocardiographic data between the 2 groups. Results: Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified 6 variables as predictors for resistance to medium-dose IVIG. We generated a predictive scoring system assigning 1 point each for percentage of neutrophils ${\geq}65%$, C-reactive protein ${\geq}100mg/L$, aspartate aminotransferase ${\geq}100IU/L$, and alanine aminotransferase ${\geq}100IU/L$, as well as 2 points for less than 5 days of illness, and serum sodium level ${\leq}136mmol/L$. Using a cutoff point of ${\geq}4$ with this scoring system, we could predict nonresponsiveness to medium-dose IVIG with 74% sensitivity and 71% specificity. Conclusion: If a patient has a low-risk score in this system, medium-dose IVIG can be recommended as the initial treatment. Through this process, we can minimize the adverse effects of high-dose IVIG and incidence of CALs.