baby health

Kawasaki disease in short

Scroll down the page to read the summary table on Kawasaki's disease

Kawasaki disease Febrile vasculitis with an acute course typical of infants up to the age of 4: autoimmune disease that affects the arteries of small and medium size
Kawasaki disease: etymology of the term The term "Kawasaki disease" comes from its discoverer: around 1960, Dr. Tomisaku Kawasaki studied a case of a 4-year-old child who complained about the typical symptoms of the disease
Kawasaki disease: synonyms Lymph node mucocutaneous syndrome
Kawasaki disease: incidence rate
  • Currently spread throughout the world → endemic Kawasaki disease
  • It particularly affects Asians, but all races are possible targets of the disease
  • It mainly affects males
  • 80% of patients are under 4 years old
  • 50% of affected individuals are less than 2 years old
  • 2-10% of patients contract the disease before 6 months of life
  • Second inflammation of the arteries that affects infants, after the Schonlein-Henoch purpura
Kawasaki disease: causes Disease with unknown aetiology
  1. Probable etiopathological hypothesis: intoxication (eg from mercury), allergies, immunological diseases and infections
  2. Hypothesis on possible infectious agents responsible for Kawasaki disease: Episten-Barr virus, retrovirus, Parvovirus b-19, streptococci and staphylococci
  3. Recent hypothesis: autoimmune connective diseases as a possible causative agent
Kawasaki disease: symptoms
  1. Acute febrile phase : lymphadenopathy, conjunctival hyperemia, buccal erythema, lesions near the oral mucosa and erythema at the level of the palms of the hands, very high fever, mood modulation, irritability, anorexia, septicemic shock, pleural effusion, papular rash and macules associated with itching
  2. Sub-acute phase: diffuse desquamation, thrombocytosis. Less frequent: arthritis and arthralgias, vascular lesions, cardiac alterations with fatal outcome in 1-2% of cases
  3. Recovery phase (three months): the signs of Kawasaki disease tend to disappear. Heart problems, abdominal pain, aseptic meningitis, pyuria, urethritis and liver disorders may remain
Essential clinical signs for the diagnosis of Kawasaki disease
  • High fever for 5-7 days
  • Edema
  • Rush skin
  • Injuries in the mouth
  • Enlarged lymph nodes
  • Conjunctival hyperemia
Kawasaki disease: diagnosis
  • In general, the diagnosis is only clinical
  • Further tests: echocardiography, echocardiogram, ophthalmoscopic examination with slit lamp
  • Differential diagnosis with measles, scarlet fever, toxic shock, mercury poisoning, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, Enterovirus infections and leptospirosis.
Kawasaki disease: therapies Intravenous immunoglobulin administration (Privigen ® Kiovig ® Flebogammadif ®) associated with aspirin. Administration of infliximab (when the patient does not respond to the previous therapy) Objective therapies: reduction of inflammation and prevention of coronary complications
Kawasaki disease: prognosis In the vast majority of cases, the prognosis is good.

1-2% of patients with Kawasaki disease associated with heart disease: poor prognosis