PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Jennifer E Weiss
AU  - B Anne Eberhard
AU  - Devyani Chowdhury
AU  - Beth S Gottlieb
TI  - Infliximab as a novel therapy for refractory Kawasaki disease.
DP  - 2004 Apr 01
TA  - The Journal of Rheumatology
PG  - 808--810
VI  - 31
IP  - 4
4099  - http://www.jrheum.org/content/31/4/808.short
4100  - http://www.jrheum.org/content/31/4/808.full
SO  - J Rheumatol2004 Apr 01; 31
AB  - Kawasaki disease (KD) is a multisystem vasculitis of unknown etiology, with coronary artery aneurysms occurring in 25% of untreated cases. With conventional treatment of intravenous immunoglobulin (i.v.IG) and high dose aspirin (ASA) only 4% of patients develop coronary artery aneurysms. Children who are unresponsive present a challenge. Tumor necrosis factor-alpha levels peak during the acute and subacute phase of KD, especially in children who develop coronary artery aneurysms. We describe a 3-year-old male with KD and giant coronary artery aneurysms, unresponsive to multiple doses of i.v.IG and methylprednisolone, who was treated with infliximab. After the first dose he defervesced and his laboratory measures improved.