How Is Kawasaki Disease Diagnosed?
Kawasaki disease is diagnosed based on your child's
signs and symptoms and the results from diagnostic tests and procedures.
Specialists Involved
Pediatricians often are the first to suspect a child
has Kawasaki disease. Pediatricians are doctors who treat children.
If the disease has affected your child's coronary
arteries, a pediatric cardiologist will confirm the diagnosis and give ongoing
treatment. Pediatric cardiologists treat children who have heart problems.
Other specialists also may be involved in treating
children who have Kawasaki disease.
Signs and Symptoms
The doctor will check your child for the classic
signs and symptoms of Kawasaki disease.
The doctor will rule out other diseases that cause
similar symptoms. These diseases include Rocky Mountain spotted fever, scarlet
fever, and juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.
Generally, your child will be diagnosed with
Kawasaki disease if he or she has a fever that lasts longer than 5 days plus
four other classic signs or symptoms of the disease.
However, not all children have classic signs and
symptoms of Kawasaki disease. Diagnostic tests and procedures can help confirm
whether a child has the disease.
Diagnostic Tests and Procedures
Echocardiography
All children suspected of having Kawasaki disease
have a test called
echocardiography
(EK-o-kar-de-OG-ra-fee). This painless test uses sound waves to create images
of the heart. These pictures show the coronary arteries.
Doctors use the test when they suspect a child has
the disease, but the child has fewer than four of the five classic signs.
Echocardiography also can help show the disease's
effects over time, if any, on your child's coronary arteries. Often, the
disease's effects on the coronary arteries don't show up until the second or
third week after the first symptoms appear. Therefore, this test is done
regularly after the diagnosis.
Some children who don't have the classic signs and
symptoms of the disease's acute phase may not be diagnosed until 2 to 3 weeks
after the onset of the disease. This is when another common sign of Kawasaki
disease occurspeeling of the skin on the fingers and toes.
If your child is diagnosed at this point, he or she
will likely need echocardiography right away to see whether the disease has
affected the coronary arteries.
Other Diagnostic Tests
Doctors also use other tests to help diagnose
Kawasaki disease. These include:
- Blood tests. These tests can show whether the
body's blood vessels are inflamed.
- Chest x ray. This test can help show whether
Kawasaki disease has affected the heart.
- EKG
(electrocardiogram). This simple test detects and records the heart's
electrical activity. EKG can show whether Kawasaki disease has affected the
heart.
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