Sudden cardiac death caused by Kawasaki coronary artery vasculitis in a child with Hodgkin's lymphoma. Case report and literature review

Cardiovasc Pathol. 2025 Jan-Feb:74:107700. doi: 10.1016/j.carpath.2024.107700. Epub 2024 Oct 5.

Abstract

Coronary artery vasculitis is a rare pathological condition and is often a manifestation of systemic vasculitis, such as Polyarteritis Nodosa, Kawasaki Disease, Takayasu Arteritis, and Giant Cell Arteritis, with Kawasaki Disease being the most common cause in children. We present the autopsy case of a 6-year-old boy with classic Hodgkin lymphoma who died of sudden cardiac death due to thrombosis caused by vasculitis, which exclusively affected the coronary arteries and was suggestive of Kawasaki Disease. To further investigate the histological features of Kawasaki Disease across all age groups, we conducted a literature review using the search terms "Kawasaki AND vasculitis AND histopathology" and "Kawasaki vasculitis histopathology" in Scopus, Google Scholar, and PubMed, covering the period from 1967 to 2023. The inclusion criteria were as follows: coronary histology (inflammation and/or aneurysm and/or thrombosis), postmortem studies, English language, free articles, all age groups, case reports, and case series.

Keywords: Coronary artery aneurysm; Coronary artery thrombosis; Coronary artery vasculitis; Kawasaki disease; Sudden cardiac death.

Publication types

  • Case Reports
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Autopsy*
  • Cause of Death
  • Child
  • Coronary Aneurysm / etiology
  • Coronary Aneurysm / pathology
  • Coronary Artery Disease / etiology
  • Coronary Artery Disease / pathology
  • Coronary Thrombosis* / etiology
  • Coronary Thrombosis* / pathology
  • Coronary Vessels* / pathology
  • Death, Sudden, Cardiac* / etiology
  • Death, Sudden, Cardiac* / pathology
  • Fatal Outcome
  • Hodgkin Disease* / complications
  • Hodgkin Disease* / pathology
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome* / complications
  • Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome* / pathology