[Kawasaki syndrome. Association with exposure to carpet shampoo and successful therapy with immunoglobulins in the second week of the illness].

A male infant and a three year old girl, both with acute febrile illness, were admitted to our hospital for suspected meningitis/sepsis and gastroenteritis/severe viral infection, respectively. Both showed all six principal features of Kawasaki syndrome and revealed several other symptoms and laboratory findings commonly associated with the disease. The infant had multiple coronary aneurysms. The girl developed ascites, pancreatitis and iritis, all of which are seldomly recognized symptoms of the Kawasaki syndrome. The prompt and satisfactory therapeutic responses of both patients to the combined therapy consisting of oral acetylsalicylic acid (50-100 mg/kg b.w./d) and intravenous gamma-globuline (400 mg/kg b.w./d) at the eight and even eleventh day of illness support the use of gamma-globuline therapy beyond the first week of the disease. Prior to their illnesses both children had been exposed to carpet shampoo, an agent which has been repeatedly associated with an increased risk of Kawasaki syndrome.