Kawasaki disease in a girl with turner syndrome: a remarkable association

Abstract

We describe a girl with Turner syndrome, a genetic disorder of the X chromosome in a phenotypic female at increased risk of autoimmune and immunological diseases, who developed Kawasaki disease at the age of four years.

Given the possible relationship between these two disorders, we recommend suspecting Kawasaki disease in patients with Turner syndrome who present with persistent fever of unknown origin and who are not responsive to antibiotic therapy. Attention should be given to this phenomenon, as patients with Turner syndrome are themselves at higher risk of cardiovascular defects. Further studies are needed to better clarify this issue.