Background: Ongoing low-grade inflammation and endothelial dysfunction persist in children with coronary lesions diagnosed with Kawasaki disease (KD). Statins, frequently used in the management of high cholesterol, have also shown to improve surrogate markers of infl ammation and endothelial dysfunction. This study was undertaken to investigate the effi cacy and safety of pravastatin in children with coronary artery aneurysms due to KD.
Methods: The study enrolled 14 healthy children and 13 male children, aged 2-10 years, with medium-to-giant coronary aneurysms for at least 12 months after the onset of KD. Pravastatin was given orally to the KD group at a dose of 5 mg/day for children under 5 and 10 mg/day for children older than 5 years. To determine the effects of pravastatin on endothelial function, high-frequency ultrasound was performed before the start of the study and 6 months after pravastatin therapy. The parameters measured were brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD), non-flow mediated dilation (NMD), and carotid artery stiffness index (SI). High sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels, the circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) number, and serum lipid profiles were also determined at baseline and after 6 months of pravastatin treatment.
Results: Before treatment, the KD group had significantly decreased FMD (P<0.05) and increased SI and hs-CRP levels (P<0.05) compared with controls. After 6 months of pravastatin therapy, FMD improved significantly compared to the baseline KD group (3.16±6.49 to 10.05±7.74, P<0.05), but remained significantly less than that in the control group with no signifi cant changes in NMD and SI. There were signifi cant decreases in markers of inflammation after treatment. The hs-CRP levels decreased signifi cantly from 2.93±0.81 mmol/L to 2.14±0.82 mmol/L (P<0.05) and the serum apo-B and apo-B/apo-A1 ratio were also reduced (P<0.05) in the KD group. However, the circulating EPC number was not signifi cantly different between baseline and that following pravastatin treatment in the KD group and the control group (P>0.05). No signifi cant complications were noted with paravastatin therapy.
Conclusions: Pravastatin improves endothelial function and reduces low-grade chronic infl ammation in patients with coronary aneurysms due to KD. Children with coronary aneurysms due to KD may benefit from statin therapy.

Background: The comparative effectiveness of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) for Kawasaki disease was regarded as inconclusive in the international guidelines. However, several new evidences have been published in recent years.
Data sources: A literature search of PubMed was conducted using key words of "Kawasaki disease or mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome" and "immunoglobulin" in combination. Only original articles published after 2004 were selected. A total of 813 papers were found in PubMed. These papers were screened manually by their titles and abstracts.
Results: Patients treated with IVIG prepared by betapropiolactonation might have worse outcome (a higher non-responsive rate in one report and a higher rate of coronary aneurysm in two reports). Storage of IVIG in acidic solution might be correlated with a higher rate of coronary aneurysm (two reports).
Conclusions: Different processes of preparation and conditions of preservation of IVIG may have profound effects on its clinical effectiveness. Randomized controlled studies are needed to further elucidate this issue.