UCSD: Kawasaki disease (KD) is the most common acquired heart disease in
children. Untreated, roughly one-quarter of children with KD develop
coronary artery aneurysms — balloon-like bulges of heart vessels — that
may ultimately result in heart attacks, congestive heart failure or
sudden death. The causative agent for KD remains unknown — a windborne pathogen is
suspected — but equally mysterious is why and how some children are more
susceptible. Researchers at University of California San Diego School
of Medicine, with colleagues at Rady Children’s Institute for Genomic
Medicine and in London and Singapore, have conducted novel whole genome
sequencing of a family in which two of four children were affected by
KD. They have identified plausible gene variants that predispose some
children to developing the disease. The findings were recently published in the
PLOS ONE.
