Kawasaki disease and coronary artery disease Posted: 07-08-08 20:10pm
When I was young I was diagnosed with
Kawasaki disease. 1 of 4 of the Doctors I
dealt with said it could lead to CAD.
Well at at 33 I suffered a heart attack
where a stent was installed. Through this
procedure they saw a completely blocked
artery. 4 months later I had a less
evasive bypass surgery done. My weight,
chloresterol and hdls were all excellent
and I live a active life style. Biking,
hiking, runnng, kayaking etc. I passed my
stress test with the blocked artery.
I would like to know if anyone else had
Kawasaki disease and if it has lead to
other heart problems. Thanks rich
Kawasaki disease (KD) and Coronary
arterial disease (CAD) both can have the
same final result (heart attack) but
pathogenesis that leads to heart infarct
is completely different. In both KD and
CAD, thrombosis in some coronary artery
branch causes stop in blood flow and
ischemic necrosis of the heart muscle
(infarct). Thrombosis occurs on a place
where the coronary artery wall is damaged.
In KD the artery wall is damaged by the
inflammation (vasculitis) and in CAD the
artery wall is damaged by the
atherosclerosis. Risk factors for
atherosclerosis are high blood pressure,
diabetes, high cholesterol, smoking,
overweight, low physical activity,
psychical stress, older age etc. The exact
cause and risk factors for Kawasaki
disease, unlike CAD, are still unknown.
Asian race, male sex and younger age are
the only known risk factors for KD.
