Kawasaki disease requires urgent treatment to prevent which complication?

• A. Coronary artery aneurysm.
• B. Renal artery stenosis.
• C. Meningitis.
• D. Brain hemorrhage.

Answer: (A)

Kawasaki disease is a pediatric vasculitis that inflames medium-sized arteries, with the coronary arteries at the highest risk. Urgent treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin and high-dose aspirin dramatically reduces ongoing inflammation and lowers the chance of developing coronary artery aneurysms. The major complication this therapy is aiming to prevent is coronary artery aneurysm, because aneurysms in these vessels can thrombose and cause myocardial infarction in children. Renal artery stenosis, meningitis, or brain hemorrhage are not the typical primary complications of Kawasaki disease, making coronary artery aneurysm the most critical risk to avert.