Background: Kawasaki disease is an acute vasculitis of childhood that leads to coronary artery aneurysms in ≈25% of untreated cases. It has been reported worldwide and is the leading cause of acqui...

Diagnosis, Treatment, and Long-Term Management of Kawasaki Disease: A Scientific Statement for Health Professionals From the American Heart Association.

Guidelines and Expert Consensus Documents summarize and evaluate all currently available evidence on a particular issue with the aim to assist physicians in selecting the best management strategies for a typical patient, suffering from a given condition, taking into account the impact on outcome, as well as the risk–benefit ratio of particular diagnostic or therapeutic means. Guidelines are no substitutes for textbooks. The legal implications of medical guidelines have been discussed previously.

A great number of Guidelines and Expert Consensus Documents have been issued in recent years by the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) as well as by other societies and organizations. Because of the impact on clinical practice, quality criteria for development of guidelines have been established in order to make all decisions transparent to the user. The recommendations for formulating and issuing ESC Guidelines and Expert Consensus Documents can be found on the ESC website (http://www.escardio.org/knowledge/guidelines/rules).

In brief, experts in the field are selected and undertake a comprehensive review of the published evidence for management and/or prevention of a given condition. A critical evaluation of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures is performed including assessment of the risk–benefit ratio. Estimates of expected health outcomes for larger societies are included, where data exist. The level of evidence and the strength of recommendation of particular treatment options are weighed and graded according to pre-defined scales, as outlined in Tables 1 and 2 .

View this table:

 Table 1 
Classes of recommendations



View this table:

 Table 2 
Levels of evidence



The experts of the writing panels have provided disclosure statements of all relationships they may have which might be perceived as real or potential sources of conflicts of interest. These disclosure forms are kept on file at the European Heart House, headquarters of the ESC. Any changes in conflict of interest that arise during the writing period must be notified to the …

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Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndromes

Background—Kawasaki disease is an acute self-limited vasculitis of childhood that is characterized by fever, bilateral nonexudative conjunctivitis, erythema of the lips and oral mucosa, changes in the extremities, rash, and cervical lymphadenopathy. Coronary artery aneurysms or ectasia develop in 15% to 25% of untreated children and may lead to ischemic heart disease or sudden death. Methods and Results—A multidisciplinary committee of experts was convened to revise the American Heart Association recommendations for diagnosis, treatment, and long-term management of Kawasaki disease. The writing group proposes a new algorithm to aid clinicians in deciding which children with fever for 5 days and 4 classic criteria should undergo echocardiography, receive intravenous gamma globulin (IVIG) treatment, or both for Kawasaki disease. The writing group reviews the available data regarding the initial treatment for children with acute Kawasaki disease, as well for those who have persistent or recrudescent fever despite initial therapy with IVIG, including IVIG retreatment and treatment with corticosteroids, tumor necrosis factor- antagonists, and abciximab. Long-term management of patients with Kawasaki disease is tailored to the degree of coronary involvement; recommendations regarding antiplatelet and anticoagulant therapy, physical activity, follow-up assessment, and the appropriate diagnostic procedures to evaluate cardiac disease are classified according to risk strata. Conclusions—Recommendations for the initial evaluation, treatment in the acute phase, and long-term management of patients with Kawasaki disease are intended to assist physicians in understanding the range of acceptable approaches for caring for patients with Kawasaki disease. The ultimate decisions for case management must be made by physicians in light of the particular conditions presented by individual patients. (Circulation. 2004;110:2747-2771.)

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Diagnosis, Treatment, and Long-Term Management of Kawasaki Disease A Statement for Health Professionals From the Committee on Rheumatic Fever, Endocarditis and Kawasaki Disease, Council on Cardiovascular Disease in the Young, American Heart Association

results During follow-up, 477 major cardiovascular events were confirmed in the aspirin group, as compared with 522 in the placebo group, for a nonsignificant reduction in risk with aspirin of 9 percent (relative risk, 0.91; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.80 to 1.03; P=0.13). With regard to individual end points, there was a 17 percent reduction in the risk of stroke in the aspirin group, as compared with the placebo group (relative risk, 0.83; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.69 to 0.99; P=0.04), owing to a 24 percent reduction in the risk of ischemic stroke (relative risk, 0.76; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.63 to 0.93; P=0.009) and a nonsignificant increase in the risk of hemorrhagic stroke (relative risk, 1.24; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.82 to 1.87; P=0.31). As compared with placebo, aspirin had no significant effect on the risk of fatal or nonfatal myocardial infarction (relative risk, 1.02; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.84 to 1.25; P=0.83) or death from cardiovascular causes (relative risk, 0.95; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.74 to 1.22; P=0.68). Gastrointestinal bleeding requiring transfusion was more frequent in the aspirin group than in the placebo group (relative risk, 1.40; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.07 to 1.83; P=0.02). Subgroup analyses showed that aspirin significantly reduced the risk of major cardiovascular events, ischemic stroke, and myocardial infarction among women 65 years of age or older. conclusions In this large, primary-prevention trial among women, aspirin lowered the risk of stroke without affecting the risk of myocardial infarction or death from cardiovascular causes, leading to a nonsignificant finding with respect to the primary end point.

/pdf/a-randomized-trial-of-low-dose-aspirin-in-the-primary-38ysoj26n9.pdf

A randomized trial of low-dose aspirin in the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease in women

Background. Kawasaki disease is an acute self-limited vasculitis of childhood that is characterized by fever, bilateral nonexudative conjunctivitis, erythema of the lips and oral mucosa, changes in the extremities, rash, and cervical lymphadenopathy. Coronary artery aneurysms or ectasia develop in ∼15% to 25% of untreated children and may lead to ischemic heart disease or sudden death.
 Methods and Results. A multidisciplinary committee of experts was convened to revise the American Heart Association recommendations for diagnosis, treatment, and long-term management of Kawasaki disease. The writing group proposes a new algorithm to aid clinicians in deciding which children with fever for ≥5 days and ≤4 classic criteria should undergo electrocardiography, receive intravenous gamma globulin (IVIG) treatment, or both for Kawasaki disease. The writing group reviews the available data regarding the initial treatment for children with acute Kawasaki disease, as well for those who have persistent or recrudescent fever despite initial therapy with IVIG, including IVIG retreatment and treatment with corticosteroids, tumor necrosis factor-α antagonists, and abciximab. Long-term management of patients with Kawasaki disease is tailored to the degree of coronary involvement; recommendations regarding antiplatelet and anticoagulant therapy, physical activity, follow-up assessment, and the appropriate diagnostic procedures to evaluate cardiac disease are classified according to risk strata.
 Conclusions. Recommendations for the initial evaluation, treatment in the acute phase, and long-term management of patients with Kawasaki disease are intended to assist physicians in understanding the range of acceptable approaches for caring for patients with Kawasaki disease. The ultimate decisions for case management must be made by physicians in light of the particular conditions presented by individual patients.

Diagnosis, treatment, and long-term management of Kawasaki disease: A statement for health professionals from the committee on rheumatic fever, endocarditis, and Kawasaki disease, council on cardiovascular disease in the young, American Heart Association

Background Patients with arthritis and vascular disease may receive both low-dose aspirin and other nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs. We therefore investigated potential interactions between aspirin and commonly prescribed arthritis therapies. Methods We administered the following combinations of drugs for six days: aspirin (81 mg every morning) two hours before ibuprofen (400 mg every morning) and the same medications in the reverse order; aspirin two hours before acetaminophen (1000 mg every morning) and the same medications in the reverse order; aspirin two hours before the cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor rofecoxib (25 mg every morning) and the same medications in the reverse order; enteric-coated aspirin two hours before ibuprofen (400 mg three times a day); and enteric-coated aspirin two hours before delayed-release diclofenac (75 mg twice daily). Results Serum thromboxane B2 levels (an index of cyclooxygenase-1 activity in platelets) and platelet aggregation were maximally inhibited 24 hours after the...

Sachin N. Vyas

Papers

Cyclooxygenase Inhibitors and the Antiplatelet Effects of Aspirin