May HDL Cholesterol Level Have a Role in The Diagnosis of Kawasaki Disease?

Abstract

Introduction: Kawasaki disease (KD) is a multisystemic vasculitis that has no specific serum marker. The aim of our study is to evaluate whether the serum lipid profile, specifically HDL cholesterol (HDL-C) level, in KD differs from that in other febrile illnesses and if so, it can be used as a diagnostic tool in distinguishing KD from other febrile illnesses. Materials and Methods: We examined prospectively 41 patients with KD (group 1) and 30 patients with febrile illness of viral or bacterial origin (group 2). The patients’ demographic and clinical characteristics were analyzed. All blood samples were taken during the disease’s acute phase. After fasting for four hours in infants and eight hours in young children, serum total cholesterol, HDL-C,