Epidemiologic study of Kawasaki disease at a single hospital in Daejeon, Korea (1987 through 2000)

We evaluated the epidemiology and a range of clinical characteristics in children with Kawasaki disease (KD) in one area of South Korea.

We retrospectively analyzed 506 medical records of children with KD, who were admitted at Daejeon St. Mary's Hospital from January 1987 through December 2000.

The mean annual frequency was 36.1 +/- 11.1 cases per year. There were 55 cases (10.9%) in 1993, 50 cases (9.9%) in 1994 and 47 cases (9.3%) in 2000. There was a slightly higher occurrence in summer with no significant difference in seasonal frequency. Age distribution ranged from 2 months to 13 years of age (mean, 2.4 +/- 1.7 years) and 485 children (95.8%) were <5 years of age. The male-to-female ratio was 1.7:1. Of the total cases 0.6% was recurrent, whereas 0.4% occurred between siblings. There were no fatalities. For treatment aspirin alone (65 cases, 12.8%), divided dose intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) (400 to 500 mg/day for 4 to 5 days, 231 cases, 45.7%) and one dose IVIG (2.0 g/kg, 210 cases, 41.5%) were used. Between 1996 and 2000, 143 cases were treated with only one dose IVIG, and 21 cases (14.7%) showed coronary artery lesions (CAL). Among the 143 cases 22 cases (15.4%) were retreated with IVIG and/or steroid pulse therapy. The incidence of CAL in this group was 50.0%.

In Daejeon, Korea, KD showed slight annual variations without seasonal differences. The rate of CAL in acute stage with one dose IVIG therapy (2 g/kg) was 8.3% in the IVIG responders.