Hemophagocytic syndrome and coronary artery aneurysms in a child with Kawasaki disease

Abstract

Mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome (Kawasaki syndrome/disease) is an acute systemic disease characterized by a predominant lesion of medium and small arteries (arteriitis), the development of destructive proliferative vasculitis. The most serious manifestations of Kawasaki disease are coronaritis and the formation of aneurysms of the coronary arteries, which can be a potential cause of acute coronary syndrome in children. The article presents our own clinical observation of a 7-month-old child with a complete form of Kawasaki disease with the formation of aneurysms of the coronary arteries, complicated by acute coronary and hemophagocytic syndromes. Kawasaki syndrome should be considered in all children with persistent fever ≥ 5 days, and the combination of persistent fever with 2–3 typical features of Kawasaki syndrome should be an absolute indication for echocardiography with mandatory visualization of the coronary arteries.