Clinical Characteristics of Patients With Kawasaki Disease Whose Siblings Had the Same Disease

Abstract

Background: Some patients with Kawasaki disease (KD) have siblings who developed the same disease. Using a large-scale epidemiologic dataset, the present study aimed to determine the clinical characteristics of this population. Methods: We analyzed 89,725 patients diagnosed with KD during 2011-2018 who were registered in the nationwide Japanese KD survey database. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to determine factors associated with sibling history of KD. Results: Of the 89,725 patients, 1777 (2%) had sibling history of KD. Annual prevalence ranged from 1.5% to 2.3% during the study period and showed a tendency toward an increasing trend. Patients with recurrent KD and parental history of KD were significantly associated with sibling history of KD (adjusted odds ratio [95% confidence interval] = 2.15 [1.82-2.54] and 2.64 [2.02-3.47], respectively). Although patients with a sibling history of KD were significantly associated with initial intravenous immunoglobulin treatment resistance (1.14 [1.02-1.28]), no significant association was found between sibling history and coronary artery abnormality development. Among patients with a sibling history of KD, male patients were less likely to have recurrent KD than female patients (0.68 [0.49-0.96]). Conclusions: The significant association between sibling history and parental history may indicate genetic susceptibility to KD onset. Among those with a sibling history, recurrent KD was more likely to occur in female patients. Further studies focusing on this population may contribute toward identification of the cause of KD onset.

Concurrent Coxsackie Virus A6 Infection and Kawasaki Disease

“…The elder sister had KD at three years of age, and progressed well with IVIG and oral acetylsalicylic acid without any concurrent disease. Siblings of affected patients with KD tended to be more susceptible to developing KD than those without a sibling history [6]. Although the etiology of KD remains unknown, it presumably results from abnormal immunologic response to various infections in genetically susceptible individuals [2,4,7].…”

Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome Occurring Simultaneously in Two Siblings

“…Coexistence of Kawasaki disease (KD) in siblings has been frequently described in the literature [2,3]. Banday et al said that infections are considered as one of the triggers, especially in genetically susceptible hosts [2].…”