Z-score is a possible predictor of the risk of coronary artery lesion development in patients with Kawasaki disease in Japan

ABSTRACT Risk factors for coronary artery lesion (CAL) development in patients with Kawasaki disease (KD) include male sex, age <12 months, intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) resistance, and delayed diagnosis. We aimed to explore the relationship between CAL development and Z-score. We enrolled 281 patients with KD who were treated with our protocol. Echocardiography was performed in three phases: pre-treatment (P1), post-treatment (P2), and 4 weeks after onset (P3). The highest Z-score of the right, left main, left anterior descending, and left circumflex coronary arteries was expressed as Zmax at each phase. P3-Zmax ≥2.5 represented CAL development. Clinical parameters, such as laboratory data and Z-scores, were retrospectively compared between patients with and without CAL development. Sixty-seven patients (23.8%) showed a P1-Zmax ≥2.0, and CAL development occurred in 21 patients (7.5%). Independent risk factors associated with CAL development were P1-Zmax, a ΔZmax (P2-Zmax − P1-Zmax) ≥1, male sex, <12 months of age, and resistant to the first IVIG administration (adjusted odds ratio [95% confidence interval]: 1.98 [1.01–3.92], 4.04 [1.11-14.7], 6.62 [1.33–33.04], 4.71 [1.51–14.68], 5.26 [1.62–17.13], respectively). Using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, a P1-Zmax ≥1.43 detected CAL development with an area under the curve of 0.64 (sensitivity = 81.0%; specificity = 48.1%). Conclusions : Our results suggest that P1-Zmax and a ΔZmax (P2-Zmax − P1-Zmax) ≥1 may predict CAL development.