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Definition
By Mayo Clinic staffYour child's been running a high fever for four or more days and the pediatrician thinks it might be Kawasaki disease, a condition you likely don't know anything about.
Kawasaki disease, named after the physician that first identified it, is a condition that causes inflammation in the walls of small- and medium-sized arteries throughout the body, including the coronary arteries, which supply blood to the heart muscle. Kawasaki disease is also called mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome because it also affects lymph nodes, skin, and the mucous membranes inside the mouth, nose and throat.
Signs of Kawasaki disease, such as a high fever and peeling skin, can be frightening, but the good news is that Kawasaki disease is usually treatable, and most children recover from Kawasaki disease without serious problems.
- Kawasaki disease. American Heart Association. http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4634. Accessed Dec. 19, 2008.
- Sundel R. Clinical manifestations and diagnosis of Kawasaki disease. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Dec. 19, 2008.
- What is Kawasaki disease? Kawasaki Disease Foundation. http://www.kdfoundation.org/dl/kdfbrochure.pdf. Accessed Dec. 19, 2008.
- Sundel R. Epidemiology and etiology of Kawasaki disease. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Dec. 19, 2008.
- Takahashi M. Cardiovascular sequelae of Kawasaki disease. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Dec. 19, 2008.
- Sundel R. Initial treatment and prognosis of Kawasaki disease. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Dec. 19, 2008.
- KDF bridges. Kawasaki Disease Foundation. http://www.kdfoundation.org/bridges.aspx. Accessed Dec. 19, 2008.
- Hoecker J (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Dec. 24, 2008.
