Kawasaki disease

Also known as mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome, this disorder was first described by the Japanese paediatrician Tomisaku Kawasaki, who collated 50 paediatric cases in 1967 [11]. Kawasaki disease, as the condition came to be known, was initially considered to be a benign disorder consisting of a fever and rash unlike scarlet fever and for which neither a viral nor a bacterial cause could be found. In fact, Kawasaki disease is a systemic vasculitis electively affecting the coronary arteries, causing potentially fatal coronary aneurysms in many cases. In some countries, it is now one of the primary causes of acquired cardiopathy in children. These cardiological sequellae can be prevented by an early diagnosis and treatment with intravenous immunoglobulins (IV Ig).