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The mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome: a critical re‐examination
Author(s) -
WESTON WILLIAM L.,
HUFF J. CLARK
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
clinical and experimental dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.587
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1365-2230
pISSN - 0307-6938
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2230.1981.tb02286.x
Subject(s) - mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome , kawasaki disease , medicine , mucocutaneous zone , lymph node , dermatology , pediatrics , disease , pathology , surgery , artery
In 1967 Tomisaku Kawasaki, a Japanese paediatrician, described fifty infants and children with an acute febrile mucocutaneous reaction which he felt had a distinctive constellation of clinical features to constitute a new syndrome. Thus, he introduced the term‘mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome1 (Kawasaki, 1967; Kawasaki et al. , 1974). A number of additional cases were reported from Japan, such that a research committee on mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome of the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare was formed in 1970 (Kawasaki et al. , 1974; Editorial, 1976), By 1976 this committee felt that enough information was available to accept mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome as a nosologic entity and elected to call it by an eponym, Kawasaki disease (Editorial, 1976; Yanagawaz Shigemaisu, 1976; Morens & Nahmias, 1978). By 1976, 10,258 definite cases had been reported in Japan (Morens & Nahmias, 1978), Since 1970, cases have been described all over die world including the United States (Melish, Hicks & Larson, 1976; Morens & Nahmias, 1978; Morens & O'Brien, 1978). The purpose of this report is to re‐evaluate the mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome or so‐called Kawasaki disease, to determine if it is a distinct clinical entity or a heterogenous group of previously described disorders that share some similar signs and symptoms.