The clinical implications of serum ferritin in Kawasaki disease: a helpful biomarker for evaluating therapeutic responsiveness, coronary artery involvement and the tendency of macrophage activation syndrome

INTRODUCTION: Serum ferritin (SF) is an acute-phase reactant in inflammatory diseases. Our aim was to analyze the clinical implications of SF in Kawasaki disease (KD). METHODS: 244 KD children were divided into 6 subgroups. SF, inflammatory mediators and blood cell counts were detected. RESULTS: (1) SF dramatically increased in the acute phase of KD and maintained after IVIG therapy; (2) SF increased in IVIG-nonresponsive KD patients (AUC = 0.705; sensitivity: 57.10%; specificity: 82.90%); SF positively correlated with the internal diameter of the coronary artery (AUC = 0.603; sensitivity: 92.30%; specificity: 37.70%); (3) SF increased in 4 patients with the macrophage activation syndrome (MAS)/MAS tendency (979.03 ±474.19 μg/l). CONCLUSIONS: SF is implied to be a helpful biomarker for forecasting IVIG-nonresponsive KD, coronary artery abnormalities (CAAs) and MAS tendency.