Kawasaki disease in a postpartum patient.

Abstract

Kawasaki disease, also known as mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome, is a multisystem disease. It usually affects children below the age of five, but it occasionally affects adults. There are less than 50 English-reported adult cases in the literature, and only five reported cases of Kawasaki disease and pregnancy, as of 2003. The cases associated with pregnancy involved patients who had a history of Kawasaki disease during childhood and addressed how the complications of the illness (i.e,. coronary artery aneurysms) were managed during pregnancy and delivery. There are no reported cases of Kawasaki disease in postpartum patients. This article presents a case of Kawasaki disease in a 21-year-old, four-week postpartum patient who initially responded to intravenous (IV) antibiotic therapy. This paper will review the diagnosis and treatment of Kawasaki disease as well as the multiple outside variables that impact the management of adult postpartum patients with Kawasaki disease.