Kawasaki Syndrome Diagnosis
Because Kawasaki syndrome is rare in the United States, doctors may want to monitor you for other common diseases that cause similar symptoms. If your doctor suspects that your child has Kawasaki syndrome, may start the review to find out:
- the medicines you take your child to rule out reaction to a medication
- any recent exposure to someone with strep throat to rule out scarlet fever, caused by a streptococcal infection
- any recent exposure to someone with measles to rule out measles if the child was not vaccinated against chickenpox
- any recent tick bite fever to rule out the Rockies
As part of the diagnostic study of Kawasaki syndrome, your doctor may order blood tests and diagnostic procedures to detect infectious and noninfectious causes of the symptoms of their children. Once there is the possibility of the presence of Kawasaki syndrome, your doctor may schedule an echocardiogram, a painless test that uses sound waves to outline the structure of the heart. This allows the doctor to detect any dilation or aneurysm in the coronary arteries.
In some cases, your doctor may recommend coronary angiography, a procedure that involves injecting dye into the arteries that carry blood to the heart for signs of aneurysm or narrowing typical of Kawasaki syndrome.
Your doctor will diagnose Kawasaki syndrome if your child has symptoms consistent with the definition of the disease and if there is no other explanation for these symptoms. Student researchers continue reliable diagnostic tests for the disease, but so far no evidence available.