Abstract
To understand the history of Kawasaki Disease (KD) one has to examine three periods of time: (A) the period from 1960 through the mid-1980s, (B) back to the 1870s, and (C) forward to the present. Dr. Kawasaki’s seminal paper, published in the Japanese-language journal Arerugi (Japanese Journal of Allergy) (Kawasaki, Arerugi [Japanese J Allergy] 16:178–222, 1967) in 1967, is the best starting point, because of its remarkably complete delineation of the clinical features of KD in living children, which is the basis for the diagnostic criteria we use today. The more than 100 years of pathologic records from the first description of fatal KD, by Samuel Gee in 1871, (Gee, St Barth Hosp Rep 7:148, 1871) to Kawasaki’s report includes the era of growing interest in and elegant description of the autopsy diagnosis that came to be called “infantile periarteritis nodosa”. (Munro-Faure, Pediatrics 23:914–926, 1959; Roberts and Fetterman, J Pediatr 63:519–529, 1963) The most recent period, from the mid-1980s to the present, marks the period of international cooperation, heightened interest, and scientific progress in the understanding of this still enigmatic disease. The following chapters will outline the many areas of scientific progress. The history of KD is very personal to me as I have had the special privilege to be a participant in all these eras of discovery.
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Melish, M.E. (2017). The History of Kawasaki Disease: A Personal Perspective. In: Saji, B., Newburger, J., Burns, J., Takahashi, M. (eds) Kawasaki Disease. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-56039-5_1
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