Kawasaki Disease

Also called: Mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome

Kawasaki disease is a rare childhood disease. It makes the walls of the blood vessels throughout the body become inflamed. It can affect any type of blood vessel, including the arteries, veins and capillaries. No one knows what causes Kawasaki disease. Symptoms include

• High fever
• Swollen lymph nodes in the neck
• A rash on the mid-section and genital area
• Red, dry, cracked lips and a red, swollen tongue
• Red, swollen palms of the hands and soles of the feet
• Redness of the eyes

Kawasaki disease can't be passed from one child to another. It is mainly treated with medicines. Rarely, medical procedures and surgery also may be used for children whose coronary arteries are affected.

Kawasaki disease can't be prevented. However, most children who develop the disease fully recover -- usually within weeks of getting signs and symptoms. Further problems are rare.

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

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• Kawasaki Disease(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)

Basics	Learn More	Multimedia & Cool Tools
Overviews Diagnosis/Symptoms	Related Issues	No links available
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Clinical Trials Journal Articles	Medical Encyclopedia Organizations	No links available

• Overviews
  • Kawasaki Disease(American Academy of Family Physicians)
  • Kawasaki Disease(Nemours Foundation)

    Also available in Spanish

• Diagnosis/Symptoms
  • C-Reactive Protein (CRP)(American Association for Clinical Chemistry)
  • Echocardiography(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)
  • Electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG)(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)
  • ESR (Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate): Sed Rate(American Association for Clinical Chemistry)
• Related Issues
  • Kawasaki Syndrome and RotaTeq Vaccine(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Clinical Trials
  • ClinicalTrials.gov: Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome(National Institutes of Health)
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• Journal Articles

  References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

  • Article: Kawasaki disease.
  • Article: Recognition of a Kawasaki disease shock syndrome.
  • Article: Simultaneous determination of tryptophan and kynurenine in plasma samples of...
  • Kawasaki Disease -- see more articles
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• Medical Encyclopedia
  • Kawasaki Disease
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• Organizations
  • American Heart Association
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• Related Topics

  • Vasculitis
  • Blood, Heart and Circulation
  • Immune System
  • Skin, Hair and Nails
  
  

• National Institutes of Health

  • The primary NIH organization for research on Kawasaki Disease is the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
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