Abstract
It is well documented that about 90% of patients with mucocutaneous lymphnode syndrome (MCLS) show clinical signs and symptoms indicating cardiovascular lesions. Especially the incidence of electrocardiographic abnormalities is high. It is, therefore, very important to study serial recordings of EKG in the course of the disease.
This report describes electrocardiographic findings in the acute stage of the disease in 24 children. The criteria of the abnormal changes of the EKG were as follows: (1) PQ prolongation more than 0.16 sec., (2) QTc more than 0.42, (3) ST changes more than 0.2mV, (4) changes of R wave more than 0.5mV and (5) changes of T wave more than 0.2mV.
One or more abnormalities were found in 23 of 24 patients (96%). Frequently found abnormalities were QTc increase (88%), PQ prolongation(54%), increased voltage of R wave (38%) and decreased voltage of R wave (21%). QTc increase was observed over the wide range of the course of the illness. PQ prolongation, low voltage of R wave and flattened T wave were found from the beginning of the disease to the second week. There was no correlation between EKG changes and Asai's score. Although the EKG abnormalities might not be found in a single recording, they were obtained by serial recording during the illness.
The above EKG changes were the same as commonly found in myocarditis, never con-sistent with those observed in coronary artery disease. This is compatible with the fact that there was no correlation between the EKG changes and Asai's score, which was closely related with the presence of coronary artery lesions in MCLS
