• fever (lasting as long as three weeks) with wide, daily swings
• inflamed eyes and eyelids
• reddish (“strawberry”) tongue, lips, and throat
• swollen hands and feet with reddened palms and soles and later peeling
• red rash on the trunk of the body
• enlarged lymph nodes in the neck

One of the complications of Kawasaki disease is damage to the arteries from inflammation. Inflammation can weaken the walls of the arteries and cause them to form tiny bulges called aneurysms. If the coronary arteries are involved, clots can form that prevent blood flow to the heart muscle and can cause damage. Although only about 15 to 30 per cent of children with Kawasaki disease develop this complication, all children need to be evaluated by a cardiologist.

Treatment

Once Kawasaki disease is diagnosed, your child may be given high dose IV gammaglobulin as it may reduce the risk of coronary artery aneurysms. The standard treatment for all children diagnosed with Kawasaki disease is daily aspirin until your cardiologist is certain there are no aneurysms. Aspirin is an antiinflammatory drug that also prevents blood clots from forming in the coronary arteries.

Follow Up

A cardiac echocardiogram (ultrasound) may be done towards the end of the acute phase of the illness and again during the subacute and convalescent phases. Children with minor cases may have the cardiac echo at about 1 to 2 months after the acute illness has subsided and again one year later. If no aneurysms are found, they are considered normal and no further follow up is required.