Evaluation of Epidemiological and Clinical Properties of Kawasaki Disease: A Single Center Experience

BACKGROUND Kawasaki disease (KD) is a self-limiting vasculitis with unknown etiology. The most feared complication is coronary artery aneurysm. This study aimed to evaluate the epidemiological, laboratory, and clinical properties of Turkish patients with Kawasaki disease. MATERIAL and METHODS This retrospective study included the patients with KD who were diagnosed according to the American Heart Association guidelines. The demographic, clinical, and laboratory results of patients were obtained from the recordings. RESULTS The study included 72 patients with KD. The male/female ratio was 1.4. The mean age of diagnose was 35 +/- 26 months. The most frequent clinical finding was oropharyngeal inflammatory changes (n=64, 89%), and the most rare clinical finding was desquamation in the distal parts of the extremities (n=44, 61%). Coronary artery involvement was detected in 33 (46%) patients, which was higher than the other Asian countries but similar to other studies conducted in Turkey. The most frequently affected vessel was the left coronary artery (n=26, 79%). Coronary artery involvement was higher in males than in females (p<0.05). The clinical type was incomplete KD in 26 (36%) patients. During the study period, the number of the patients per year increased with every passing year. Throughout the study duration of 14 years, the number of newly diagnosed incomplete KD patients increased year by year, (17 patients (65%) were diagnosed in the last 5 years). CONCLUSION The number of patients diagnosed with typical and incomplete KD has been increasing in recent years. Clinicians' awareness regarding KD may be the reason of this increment. Coronary artery disturbances are frequently observed in Turkish population.