Perioperative considerations of kawasaki disease

Background: Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute febrile illness that primarily affects young children. Coronary arteritis is an important clinical feature of KD because it is associated with aneurysms and thromboembolic events that can lead to ischemic heart disease, sudden death, and congestive heart failure. KD involvement in multiple organ systems provides a potentially challenging dilemma for clinicians.

Methods: This review discusses the pathogenesis of the disease, including diagnosis, clinical features, and treatments. An additional focus is the development of strategies for the successful surgical management of patients with a KD history, emphasizing the preoperative assessment and the operative arena.

Conclusion: Although treatments for KD are largely standardized, patients with the disease who require surgical interventions must be properly assessed to determine the degree of pathogenesis, especially the extent of cardiac involvement.