Histopathological study on right endomyocardial biopsy of Kawasaki disease.

Fifty right ventricular endomyocardial biopsy specimens taken from patients with Kawasaki disease were studied. These were taken from 33 male and 17 female patients. Biopsies were examined for inflammatory cell infiltration, fibrosis, myocardial fibre disarrangement, and the cellular and nuclear changes of hypertrophy. A score of severity was prepared. The degree of abnormality was found to correlate with the duration of the disease, as did fibrosis found in 18 cases (36%), but inflammatory cell infiltration did not (13 cases, 26%). Coronary involvement was restricted to the male patients but the myocardial changes occurred in both sexes.