Kawasaki disease: Canadian update.

Kawasaki disease, or mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome, is a multisystem disorder that affects young children. Between 1979 and 1982, 357 patients from 15 university pediatric centres in Canada were reported to have the disease. The diagnosis of Kawasaki disease is based on six clinical features, including fever, conjunctivitis, cracked lips, reddening and swelling of the hands and feet, rash and cervical lymphadenopathy. A scoring system is described that may help predict the development of cardiovascular complications. Coronary artery involvement can be recognized early by two-dimensional echocardiography. Anti-inflammatory therapy, principally with acetylsalicylic acid, is indicated in the acute phase and antithrombotic treatment in the subacute and chronic phases of the disease if coronary artery aneurysms have developed. Prolonged follow-up for patients with aneurysms is necessary. The length of follow-up for patients without aneurysms will depend on the results of studies on patients with Kawasaki disease after they reach adulthood.