Heart Damage gets reduced with steroids in children with Kawasaki's diseaseAccording to a study in an issue of Pediatrics, steroids can considerably minimize the odds of development of heart damage in children with Kawasaki’s disease. These findings address a serious gap in knowledge, as felt by some experts.

It is worth noting here that the present-day guidelines from the American Academy of  Pediatrics state that supporting evidence for steroid treatment is lacking. The Academy advocates the use of aspirin and intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) for treating Kawasaki’s disease.

From News-Medical.Net:

“This gap in knowledge led us to examine the benefits of steroids more closely. We looked at research worldwide and were surprised to find eight solid clinical trials showing the value of steroids in significantly reducing heart damage in children with Kawasaki’s disease. Steroids, when combined with aspirin and IVGB, reduced the odds of developing inflammation of the heart blood vessels by half,” said Stephen Aronoff, MD, lead author of the meta-analysis and Temple University School of Medicine professor and chair of pediatrics.

It was remarked by Aronoff that many more presently underway studies will provide further evidence of the advantages of steroid treatment along with guidelines for effective types and doses of steroids. These findings will help medical practitioners to be confident while prescribing steroids to their patients after a pros-and-cons study has been evaluated at the first place.

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