Enfermedad de Kawasaki: una serie clínica

introduction: kawasaki disease (kd) is a serious disease in children due to its potential complications and sequelae if not promptly and adequately managed. objectives: to describe clinical and epidemiological characteristics of children hospitalized due to kd at a tertiary care center and identify risk factors for poor outcome. patients and methods: retrospective and descriptive study of 32 medical records of patients hospitalized with diagnosis of kd at a tertiary care center of santiago, chile between february 1999 and may 2007. results: the annual frequency was of 5 cases, mainly boys and during spring. the median age at diagnosis was 1.5 years and 87.5% of the children were younger than 5 years. typical presentation prevailed in all ages (68,7%). coronary artery affection, including dilatation or aneurisms, occurred in 21.9% of the cases, with aneurysms in 3 cases. all patients were treated with aspirin and intravenous immunoglobulin (ivig); 4 patients required a second dose. no deaths were reported. the identified risk factors for poor outcome were age older than 5 years and hypoalbumin-emia. conclusions: kd is an infrequent disease that mainly occurs in children younger than 5 years and with a typical presentation. there are risk factors associated with poor outcome.