Kawasaki Disease: Time for Change

The first cases of mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome (MLNS) were reported by Dr Tomisaku Kawasaki in 1967. His surname was later assigned to this new disease entity, and I was fortunate to meet him at the 100 Annual Conference of the German Paediatric Association in Berlin in 2004 [1]. According to our current understanding Kawasaki disease (KD) is a systemic autoimmune vasculitis which occurs in genetically susceptible people following an acute infection. Outside Japan KD has a low incidence and is notoriously difficult to diagnose because of its similarity to common infective childhood illnesses and a lack of specific and sensitive laboratory tests. The case report of KD by Bangert et al. [2] illustrates these difficulties aptly and calls for prompt diagnosis and treatment of this condition to avoid serious cardiovascular complications.