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Table 1 The major differences between Kawasaki disease and multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children

From: COVID-19 in children: an approach for multisystem inflammatory syndrome

Characteristics

Kawasaki disease

Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children

Age of presentation

Less than 5 years

Children aged 8–10 years

Gender

Male > female

Male > female

Fever

Present

Present

Cutaneous sign

Seen in most patients

Seen in < 50% of patients

Lymphadenopathy

More common

Not common

Hemodynamic instability and ICU support

Less than 5% of patients develop shock syndrome

Present in almost all patients

Cardiovascular complication

Symptomatic myocarditis is not common

Cardiac dysfunction is seen at presentation; severe myocarditis and pericarditis are more common

Predominant symptoms

Gastrointestinal symptoms are not prominent

Gastrointestinal manifestations (abdominal pain, diarrhea) present in > 80% patients

Inflammatory markers

Neutrophilic leukocytosis is usual

Lymphopenia is common; cytokine storm is more severe; extremely high levels of N-terminal brain natriuretic peptide, Troponins and D-dimer

Organ dysfunction

Multiorgan dysfunction is not common

Multiorgan dysfunction seen

Etiology

No identifiable cause

Post-infectious syndrome. SARS-CoV-2 serology is usually positive; in seronegative patients, there is usually history of contact with an individual having COVID-19 infection

Management

Intravenous immunoglobulin; steroid; interleukin-1 blockers

Intravenous immunoglobulin; steroids; interleukin-1 blockers; interleukin-6 inhibitors

  1. SARS-CoV-2 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2, COVID-19 coronavirus disease