The purpose of this prospective case-control study was to survey the detection rate of respiratory viruses in children with Kawasaki disease (KD) by using multiplex reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and to investigate the clinical implications of the prevalence of respiratory viruses during the acute phase of KD.

RT-PCR assays were carried out to screen for the presence of respiratory syncytial...

Brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) has been considered a biochemical marker for myocarditis in Kawasaki disease. We performed this study to determine its quantitative significance.

We attempted to correlate log-transformed BNP concentrations (log-BNP) and clinical, laboratory, and echocardiographic variables in 81 children with Kawasaki disease. Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis was used to determine the variables independently associated with log-BNP concentration.

Serum C-reactive...