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- Mary Beth F. Son, MD*
- Jane W. Newburger, MD, MPH†
- *Division of Immunology,
- †Department of Cardiology, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA
AUTHOR DISCLOSURE
Dr Son has disclosed no financial relationships relevant to this article. Dr Newburger has disclosed that she serves as the principal investigator on grants from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Department of Defense, and Children's Heart Foundation; as chairperson of the Event Adjudication Committee for Bristol-Myers Squibb’s and Pfizer/Inventive’s trials on apixaban; as a consultant for Merck and Daiichi Sankyo; as chairperson of the Clinical Endpoint Committee for Novartis’ upcoming trial on sacubitril/valsartan; as a member of the editorial board of Circulation and the board of trustees of the American College of Cardiology; and as an expert witness in legal cases related to Kawasaki disease. This commentary does not contain a discussion of an unapproved/investigative use of a commercial product/device.
- ASA:
- aspirin
- CAL:
- coronary artery lesion
- CRP:
- C-reactive protein
- ESR:
- erythrocyte sedimentation rate
- IVIG:
- intravenous immunoglobulin
- KD:
- Kawasaki disease
- LAD:
- left anterior descending artery
- RCA:
- right coronary artery
Education Gap
Kawasaki disease is the leading cause of acquired heart disease in developed countries. A rare disease without pathognomonic findings or a diagnostic test, Kawasaki disease should be considered in the differential diagnosis of a child with prolonged fever.
Objectives
After completing this article, readers should be able to:
Recognize the clinical findings associated with Kawasaki disease (KD).
Formulate a differential diagnosis for patients with suspected KD.
Describe the laboratory values typically seen in KD.
Discuss the role of echocardiography in the management of patients with KD and describe the cardiac complications of the disease.
Define the primary treatment of KD with intravenous immunoglobulin and oral aspirin.
Case Study
A 3-year-old previously healthy Hispanic girl is brought to her pediatrician’s office by her mother with a history of 6 days of fever. The fever has been present daily and unremitting despite administration of antipyretic medications. She has been irritable, with decreased appetite. Her mother noticed an erythematous nonpruritic rash covering her torso 1 day after fever onset. She has developed red eyes in the past 2 days. She has no …
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