Kawasaki Disease Research Paper

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Kawasaki disease was discovered by a Japanese pediatrician named Tomisaku Kawasaki. This disease is a “multisystem vasculitis that results in localized coronary artery elastin breakdown and aneurysm formation,” (Lau). This simply means it is a condition that causes inflammation of blood vessel walls in the body. Kawasaki disease is also referred to as “mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome,” by Black’s Medical Dictionary, (Marcovitch). It is most prevalent in infants and toddlers, “mainly in children under five,” (Marcovitch). “Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute, systemic vasculitis in children, with an etiology that is not completely understood” (Lau). Meaning, the cause of the disease is unknown. Although the disease itself it not contagious, …show more content…

“Intravenous immunoglobulin and aspirin/salicylate are therapeutic agents in current use for the treatment of Kawasaki Disease” (Lau). However, because the disease is so difficult to diagnose, majority of patients do not start treatment in time. About twenty-five percent of patients that do not start treatment develop coronary artery aneurysms, which are often fatal. Due to the development of the coronary artery aneurysms, “both coronary artery bypass surgery and percutaneous intervention have been used to treat Kawasaki disease,” (Burns).
Some nursing diagnoses for Kawasaki disease include “chronic pain related to,” inflammation of pericardial sac, “risk for decreased cardiac output related to,” damage from cardiac lesions, and “activity intolerance related to,” inflammation and decreased strength of cardiac muscles, (deWit and …show more content…

Studies have shown boys having a higher ratio of expected deaths during the acute phase of the disease in a ratio of boys to girls. However, after the acute phase of Kawasaki disease, “both sexes had ratios of observed to expected deaths that were lower than 1, and the difference from the control population was not statistically significant,” (Nakamura). The death rates of female children with this disease are equal to those of healthy female children. “The mortality rate among boys with Kawasaki disease in Japan is twice that among healthy boys of the same age, and most deaths occur within two months of diagnosis,” (Nakumura). The remarkable difference in the mortality rate between the sexes is likely due to the majority of the male children having cardiac

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