Kawasaki disease: a report of 26 patients

Twenty-six patients suffering from Kawasaki Disease (24 from the U.K. and two from the Netherlands) were reported and their details documented on a questionnaire returned by members of the British Society for the Study of Infection between 1981 and 1983. Seventeen of the children (65.4%) were presumed British extraction. The male:female ratio was 1.6:1.0 and their mean age 3.38 years. No seasonal variation was noted. The clinical and laboratory findings are detailed. Little evidence of infection was discovered. Two patients, both British, died of myocardial infarction (7.7%). Four of the 24 survivors had evidence of coronary artery abnormalities making a total of six (23.1%) of the total series of 26 patients to have coronary artery disease demonstrated. Of the three patients (11.5%) given corticosteroids, two died. The significance of these findings is briefly discussed.