A few weeks earlier, the Yafusos from Pearl Ridge were hit with a double whammy. That's rare, doctors say, but tearful second-graders in pain like Cody don't care much about being statistics. And my eyes were really sore. Fortunately for these and most children who develop Kawasaki syndrome, prompt treatment with aspirin and the blood component gamma globulin usually leads to a speedy recovery. However, the disease can cause coronary arteries to develop swellings aneurysms, and can cause heart disorders, especially if diagnosis and treatment are delayed.
Blood clots can develop.
If undetected, they may cause heart attacks. The recent four-day symposium on Kawasaki syndrome at the Hilton Waikoloa Village offered little hope that the medical world was closer to identifying the trigger that sets off Kawasaki syndrome, said Dr. Marian Melish, infectious diseases specialist at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children. However, several scientific papers highlighted new treatment ideas that could lessen the damage done by the syndrome, also known as Kawasaki disease. At the symposium, a noted Atlanta adult cardiologist suggested that the disease may damage the protective inner lining of coronary arteries even in children who show no visible signs of aneurysms. This, said Dr. R. Wayne Alexander, could leave them with a heightened risk of developing heart disease later.