Correlation between brachial artery flow-mediated dilation and endothelial microparticle levels for identifying endothelial dysfunction in children with Kawasaki disease.

Background: We investigated vascular endothelial dysfunction by sonographic features of flow-mediated dilation (FMD) and circulating endothelial microparticles (EMPs) in Kawasaki disease (KD).

Methods: Twenty-eight patients with KD were prospectively grouped according to stage of disease: acute, subacute, and convalescent. In addition, 28 healthy children and 28 febrile children were selected as controls.

Understanding the pathogenesis of Kawasaki disease by network and pathway analysis.

Kawasaki disease (KD) is a complex disease, leading to the damage of multisystems. The pathogen that triggers this sophisticated disease is still unknown since it was first reported in 1967. To increase our knowledge on the effects of genes in KD, we extracted statistically significant genes so far associated with this mysterious illness from candidate gene studies and genome-wide association studies.