Main Entry: Ka·wa·sa·ki disease

Pronunciation: \ˌkä-wə-ˈsä-kē-\

Variant(s): also Ka·wa·sa·ki's disease \-kēz-\

Function: noun

: an acute febrile disease of unknown cause affecting especially infants and children that is characterized by a reddish macular rash especially on the trunk, conjunctivitis, inflammation of mucous membranes (as of the tongue), erythema of the palms and soles followed by desquamation, edema of the hands and feet, and swollen lymph nodes in the neck—called also mucocutaneous lymph node disease, mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome

Ka·wa·sa·ki \kä-wä-sä-kē\ Tomisaku (flourished 1961), Japanese pediatrician. Kawasaki first discovered mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome in Japanese children in 1961. In 1967 he published his findings based upon 50 case studies, all of which involved Japanese children five years old and younger. Since that original report, however, Kawasaki disease has been observed in other countries and in patients who are considerably older.