• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.139-144
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• 1996

Purpose : Coxiella burnetii is a well-known causative agent of granuolmatous inflammation and an inducer of morphological change and transformation of human B lymphocyte in vitro. Coxiella burnetii manifests with several clinical symptoms depending upon the organs that are involved. We therefore undertook to clarify the association of Kawasaki disease and Coxiella burnetii. Subjects and Methods : The patient's sera were tested for antibodies specific for Coxiella burnetii, using indirect fluorescent antibody technique(IFA). We compared Coxiella burnetii infection with 3 groups of patients, group 1 (Kawasaki disease), group 2 (other febrile disease) and group 3 (control group). Results : 1) In children with Kawasaki disease (group 1), 93% of the patient tested positive for Coxiella burnetii. 2) In group 2 children, 20% of the patient tested positive for Coxiella burnetii. 3) In group 3 children, 10% of the patient tested positive for Coxiella burnetii 4) There were significant higher positive rate for Coxiella burnetii in Kawasaki disease than group 2 and group 3 (p<0.05). Conclusions : We concluded that our cases of Kawasaki disease were associated with Coxiella burnetii infection. Further studies will be needed to understand the precise role of Coxiella infection in Kawasaki disease.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.398-400
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• 1995

Kawasaki s disease is a multisystemic disorder that is an important cause of cardiovascular disease in children. We experienced a case of coronary artery aneurysm secondary to Kawasaki s disease. The patient was 12-year-old female presented as exertional dyspnea & chest pain[NYHA classII . Her coronary angiogram showed saccular aneurysms at proximal right coronary artery and proximal left anterior descending artery. CABG was performed by use of double internal mammary artery.Postoperative E.K.G. showed a normal pattern.She discharged at postoperative 10th day without problem. 4 months after discharge, she had no dyspnea & chest pain in exertion[NYHA class I .

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.214-218
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• 2014

Kawasaki disease is generally diagnosed base on its clinical features. Sometimes unusual or atypical presentations make the diagnosis of Kawasaki disease difficult. We experienced an unusual case of Kawasaki disease presented with unilateral parotitis in a 23-month old girl. Despite of intravenous antibiotics treatment, fever and unilateral parotid swelling persisted. Skin rashes, conjunctival injections, and coronary abnormalities showed up on the 8th day of fever. After the intravenous immunoglobulin and salicylates treatment, all symptoms disappeared. Although unilateral parotitis is very unusual presentation of Kawasaki disease, in case of no response to antibiotics, Kawasaki disease should be included in the differential diagnosis.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.62 no.4
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• pp.138-143
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• 2019

Purpose: Prognostic factors of coronary aneurysms in Kawasaki disease have been investigated in many studies. The aim of this study was to identify risk factors associated with early and late coronary artery outcomes in treated patients with Kawasaki disease. Methods: A total of 392 patients diagnosed with Kawasaki disease from January 2012 to December 2015 in Pusan National University Children's Hospital were retrospectively selected as subjects of the present study to determine risk factors for coronary aneurysms and persistence of coronary aneurysms after a 1-year follow-up. Results: Coronary aneurysms were detected in 30 of 392 patients within 1 month after the occurrence of Kawasaki disease. Coronary aneurysms persisted in 5 of 30 patients after a 1-year follow-up. A long duration of fever (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 1.47; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.06-2.02; P=0.018) and high platelet count (adjusted OR, 1.00; 95% CI, 1.00-1.01; P=0.009) were found to be independent factors to predict the development of coronary aneurysms in the early phase. Initial coronary severity (adjusted OR, 46.0; 95% CI, 2.01-1047.80; P=0.016) and a high white blood cell count (adjusted OR, 1.17; 95% CI, 1.01-1.36; P=0.028) were found to be significant factors for the persistence of late coronary aneurysms in univariate analysis. However, no significant factors were found in multivariate analysis. Conclusion: These data are from early and late follow-up of coronary aneurysms in our unit. Further studies are needed to determine the mechanisms involved in the disappearance of coronary aneurysms and related factors.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.233-237
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• 2001

Kawasaki Disease, an acute systemic vasculitis of unknown etiology, is the leading cause of acquired heart disease in children in many parts of the world. It predominantly affects children under 5 years of age and has many clinical symptoms. We experienced a case of gas forming enterocolitis associated with Kawasaki Disease. Aeromonas hydrophilia was isolated from her stool culture. So, we report the case with a brief review of its literature.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.51 no.5
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• pp.452-456
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• 2008

Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute, self-limited vasculitis of unknown etiology that occurs predominantly in infants and young children. Initially described in 1967 by Dr. Tomisaku Kawasaki, it is now the most common cause of acquired heart disease among children in developed nations. Although KD has been reported across all racial and ethnic groups, the incidence of KD is more common among Asians, which suggests differences of race-specific susceptibility. The prevalence of the disease varies considerably among different Asian countries, and there is a higher rate of KD reported in Asian countries such as Japan and Korea than in other countries. In Korea, a nationwide epidemiological study has been conducted every three years since the 1990s by the Korean Pediatric Heart Association to determine the epidemiologic patterns and incidence rate of KD in Korea. It was thus found in a recent survey (2003-2005) that the average annual incidence of 105.0/100,000 Korean children under the age of five years was the second-highest reported rate in the world, after Japan.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.62 no.8
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• pp.292-296
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• 2019

Epidemiologic studies of Kawasaki disease (KD) have shown a new pattern or change of its occurrence suggestive of its pathophysiology or risk factors from the first patient with KD reported in 1961. The incidence of KD in Northeast Asian countries including Japan, South Korea, China, and Taiwan is 10-30 times higher than that in the United States and Europe. Knowing the true epidemiology of KD in each country and the availability of publications of KD epidemiology also could benefit general health care providers and general population. This would enable the early detection and treatment of KD, ultimately reducing the incidence of coronary artery complications and mortality. Therefore, efforts to investigate the true epidemiology of KD should be continued in every country using a questionnaire survey, National Health Insurance system data, or combined methods depending on each country's medical environment to ensure high-quality care of patients with KD.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.46 no.8
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• pp.811-816
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• 2003

Purpose : Kawasaki disease is an acute systemic vasculitis of unknown etiology with a predilection for the coronary arteries. Vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) is a cytokine which promotes vascular permeability and angiogenesis. We investigated serum VEGF(sVEGF) levels in Kawasaki disease to determine whether sVEGF level can be used as a risk factor to predict the occurrence of coronary artery lesions(CAL) in Kawasaki disease. Methods : We measured sVEGF levels in 11 patients with Kawasaki disease in acute phase(patient group)and 11 normal children(control group) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) method. We investigated the relationship between sVEGF levels and the lumen diameters of coronary artery and other potential CAL risk factors; duration of fever, hemoglobin, WBC counts, platelet counts, ESR, CRP and LDH levels. Results : SVEGF levels of patients in the acute phase of Kawasaki disease(mean $847.9{\pm}495.7pg/mL$) were significantly higher than that of normal controls(mean $279.9{\pm}150.6pg/mL$; P<0.05). SVEGF levels showed significant positive correlation with the lumen diameters of the coronary artery(P<0.05, $r_s=0.75$) in the patient group. There was no significant correlation between sVEGF levels and duration of fever or other laboratory measurements. Conclusion : Our results support the notion that sVEGF level may be considered as a predictive indicator for the occurrence of coronary artery lesions in Kawasaki disease.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.65 no.4
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• pp.153-166
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• 2022

During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, a novel multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) has been reported worldwide since the first cases were reported in Europe in April 2020. MIS-C is temporally associated with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection and shows Kawasaki disease (KD)-like features. The epidemiological and clinical characteristics in COVID-19, KD, and MIS-C differ, but severe cases of each disease share similar clinical and laboratory findings such as a protracted clinical course, multiorgan involvement, and similar activated biomarkers. These findings suggest that a common control system of the host may act against severe disease insult. To solve the enigmas, we proposed the protein-homeostasis-system hypothesis in that every disease involves etiological substances and the host's immune system controls them by their size and biochemical properties. Also, it is proposed that the etiological agents of KD and MIS-C might be certain strains in the microbiota of human species and etiological substances in severe COVID-19, KD, and MIS-C originate from pathogen-infected cells. Since disease severity depends on the amounts of inflammation-inducing substances and corresponding immune activation in the early stage of the disease, an early proper dose of corticosteroids and/or intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) may help reduce morbidity and possibly mortality among patients with these diseases. Corticosteroids are low cost and an analogue of host-origin cortisol among immune modulators. This study's findings will help clinicians treating severe COVID-19, KD, and MIS-C, especially in developing countries, where IVIG and biologics supplies are insufficient.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.38.1-38.7
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• 2021

Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute pediatric vasculitis that affects genetically susceptible infants and children. To identify coding variants that influence susceptibility to KD, we conducted whole exome sequencing of 159 patients with KD and 902 controls, and performed a replication study in an independent 586 cases and 732 controls. We identified five rare coding variants in five genes (FCRLA, PTGER4, IL17F, CARD11, and SIGLEC10) associated with KD (odds ratio [OR], 1.18 to 4.41; p = 0.0027-0.031). We also performed association analysis in 26 KD patients with coronary artery aneurysms (CAAs; diameter > 5 mm) and 124 patients without CAAs (diameter < 3 mm), and identified another five rare coding variants in five genes (FGFR4, IL31RA, FNDC1, MMP8, and FOXN1), which may be associated with CAA (OR, 3.89 to 37.3; p = 0.0058- 0.0261). These results provide insights into new candidate genes and genetic variants potentially involved in the development of KD and CAA.