Mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome in adults. Differentiation from toxic shock syndrome.

Since infantile mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome was first reported in the United States in 1974, a number of cases of so-called Kawasaki syndrome have been reported in adults. A patient with characteristics of both mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome and toxic shock syndrome is described, and 12 cases reported in the American literature are reviewed in an attempt to clarify the differential diagnosis. Most cases initially reported as Kawasaki syndrome are probably toxic shock syndrome.