Silent Kawasaki Disease Affecting Multiple Coronary Arteries in a 39-Year-Old Egyptian Woman

Abstract

Kawasaki disease, an acute febrile illness, can cause vasculitis in the coronary arteries. It is the chief acquired cause of myocardial infarction and sudden cardiac death in infants, children, and young adults in developed countries. We report a case of chronic, silent Kawasaki disease complicated by multivessel thrombosis in a 39-year-old Egyptian woman. The patient presented with progressive, unstable angina but was otherwise asymptomatic and at negligible risk of ischemic heart disease. Coronary angiograms showed critical arterial stenosis with multiple aneurysms. During revascularization surgery, the patient's harvested left internal mammary artery was found to have occlusive lesions and aneurysmal areas that made it unfit for bypass grafting, and subsequent histopathologic examination revealed features characteristic of chronic Kawasaki disease–associated systemic vasculitis. We think that this is only the second report of Kawasaki disease in the Arabian Mediterranean region. In addition to the patient's case, we discuss the epidemiology and management of Kawasaki disease, in hopes of increasing clinicians' awareness.