Kawasaki Disease clinical trials at UCSD

2 research studies open to eligible people

Showing trials for

  • Atorvastatin and Anakinra in Children With Coronary Artery Abnormalities Secondary to Kawasaki Disease

    open to eligible people ages 1-17

    Kawasaki disease (KD) is the leading cause of acquired heart disease in children in the developed world. Despite available treatment, 25% of children in San Diego County appropriately treated for KD develop coronary artery abnormalities that could lead to complications later in life, including heart attack. Although we can identify children with KD that have these coronary artery abnormalities, there is no approved additional treatment to decrease coronary artery inflammation and arrest or prevent damage to the coronary arteries. Statins, a class of drugs that is known for lowering cholesterol, have also been shown to decrease inflammation in general as well as at the level of the vessel wall. Anakinra, a therapy that blocks the high levels of interleukin 1 (IL1) that leads to inflammation during acute KD, has been shown in the KD mouse model to prevent the development of coronary artery damage. Both of these therapies have been demonstrated to be safe and well-tolerated in KD patients. Therefore, we propose to study the effects of combination therapy with atorvastatin and anakinra in children with acute KD and early coronary artery abnormalities.

    San Diego, California

  • Characterization of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) and Its Relationship to Kawasaki Disease

    open to eligible people ages 1 month and up

    Beginning in mid-March 2020, pediatricians in communities in Western Europe, the UK, and the Eastern U.S. that had been severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic noted an increased number of children presenting with fever and evidence of severe inflammation who required admission to intensive care. The syndrome was branded by the CDC in the U.S. as Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C). The most severely affected children presented with heart failure leading to shock and the absence of significant pulmonary disease. The clinical presentation in these patients shared many features with Kawasaki disease (KD), a self-limited pediatric vasculitis that can result in coronary artery aneurysms.The inflammatory markers, however, were much higher even than KD shock syndrome, a variant of KD presenting with distributive shock and requiring inotropic and vasoactive support in the ICU. Some patients were polymerase chain reaction (PCR)+ for SARS-CoV-2 while most were virus-negative but had detectable antibody suggesting that MIS-C was an immune-mediated reaction to antecedent exposure to the virus. While patients were being diagnosed with shock and MIS-C, children with a milder version of MIS-C that shared many features of KD were being diagnosed in these same regions.

    La Jolla, California

Our lead scientists for Kawasaki Disease research studies include .