Two generations of clinicians and researchers have been stumpedby the riddle of Kawasaki disease. How can an illness look likean infectious disease but not have a recoverable agent; looklike an immune-mediated vasculitis but not be easily treatedwith corticosteroids; and look like a benign, self-limited illnessbut be the leading cause of acquired heart disease in children?The answers to the riddle continue to elude us.
Kawasaki disease affects children of all ethnic backgroundsthroughout the world, although susceptibility is shaped by geneticinfluences. Japanese children have the highest incidence ofthe disease, with an attack rate . . . [Full Text of this Article]
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Dr. Burns is a professor in and chief of the Division of Pediatric Allergy, Immunology, and Rheumatology at the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, La Jolla.
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Treatment of Kawasaki Disease
Inoue Y., Kobayashi T., Morikawa A., Taddio A., Rosé C. D., Greil G. F., Manning W. J., Newburger J. W., Sleeper L. A., Burns J. C.
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N Engl J Med 2007;
356:2746-2748, Jun 28, 2007.
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[Abstract][Full Text]
Inoue, Y., Kobayashi, T., Morikawa, A., Taddio, A., Rose, C. D., Greil, G. F., Manning, W. J., Newburger, J. W., Sleeper, L. A., Burns, J. C.
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[Full Text]