Kawasaki Disease

The Kawasaki Disease Clinic at the Stanford Medicine Children’s Health Betty Irene Moore Children’s Heart Center provides short- and long-term follow-up care for patients diagnosed with Kawasaki disease and dilated coronary arteries.

Kawasaki disease in children

Typically, Kawasaki disease develops in children before they turn five years old. The cause of Kawasaki disease is unknown, but physicians and scientists are investigating whether viruses or bacteria may play a role. Children who have Kawasaki disease may show the following symptoms: moderate fever that persists for at least five days; dry, cracked, and red lips; swollen lymph nodes; swollen or peeling skin on the hands or feet; rash; or a swollen and red tongue.

Children who are diagnosed with Kawasaki disease should be given immediate treatment to reduce the inflammation in the body, which could cause long-term heart or blood vessel damage. The disease can weaken the walls of the coronary arteries and cause a portion of the artery to bulge or balloon, which is known as an aneurysm. Coronary artery aneurysms occur in about 10 to 15 percent of patients diagnosed with Kawasaki disease.

The Stanford Medicine Children’s Health Kawasaki Disease Clinic is part of the North American Kawasaki Disease Registry. The clinic is also a part of the Stanford Medicine Children’s Health Pediatric Vascular Research Lab, which conducts research using non-invasive vascular testing to monitor the vascular health of at-risk pediatric patients with various conditions.