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Kawasaki Disease – Tissue Scurvy Misdiagnosed as Non-accidental Injury

Received: 25 July 2013     Published: 20 August 2013
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Abstract

Kawasaki Disease is an illness of unknown aetiology,occurs worldwide,and mainly affects Japanese or Asian children under 5 years of age. One feature of the disease, extensive bruising, suggested the possibility of Vitamin C deficiency since it is one of the main causes of bruises in children. Vitamin C deficiency may present in the form of “Tissue Scurvy” – an autoimmune disorder in which there is an abundance of Vitamin C in the body(unlike the Seafarer Scurvy of yesteryear)but it is inhibited from entering the cell to perform its functions because of the lack of insulin which is essential for the transfer of Vitamin C into the cell.Here it is shown a child presenting with the signs and symptoms of Kawasaki Disease was found to have hyperglycaemia, implying insulin deficiency.It is concluded that Kawasaki Disease is an autoimmune disorderfollowing antigenic stimulation in a genetically susceptible child.

Published in American Journal of Internal Medicine (Volume 1, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajim.20130102.13
Page(s) 21-24
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2013. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Kawasaki Disease, Non-accidental Injury, Tissue Scurvy

References
[1] Burns JC Commentary: translation of Dr.Tomisaku Kawasaki's original report of fifty patients in 1967. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2002 Nov;21(11):993-5.
[2] Kawasaki Disease Behrman RE, Kliegman RM, Jenson HB. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics 17th Edition Chp156;823-826
[3] May JM, Harrison FERole of Vitamin C in the Function of the Vascular Endothelium.Antioxid Redox Signal. 2013 May 29. [Epub ahead of print] Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine , Nashville, Tennessee.
[4] Cunningham JJ, Ellis SL, McVeigh KL, Levine RE, Jorge CaliesEscandon Reduced mononuclear leucocyte ascorbic acid content in adults with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus consuming adequate dietary vitamin C Metabolism 1981;vol 40;148-149.
[5] Cunningham JJ. The Glucose/Insulin System and Vitamin C:Implications in Insulin-dependent Diabetes Mellitus. J Am CollNutr; 1998:vol 17 p105-108
[6] Innis MD. Vitamin K Deficiency Disease. Jour of Orthomol Med 2008;vol 23; 15-20
[7] Leung DYM, Meissner HC. The Many Faces of Kawasaki Syndrome www.hosppract.com/issues/2000/01/celeu.htm
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Michael D Innis. (2013). Kawasaki Disease – Tissue Scurvy Misdiagnosed as Non-accidental Injury. American Journal of Internal Medicine, 1(2), 21-24. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajim.20130102.13

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    ACS Style

    Michael D Innis. Kawasaki Disease – Tissue Scurvy Misdiagnosed as Non-accidental Injury. Am. J. Intern. Med. 2013, 1(2), 21-24. doi: 10.11648/j.ajim.20130102.13

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    AMA Style

    Michael D Innis. Kawasaki Disease – Tissue Scurvy Misdiagnosed as Non-accidental Injury. Am J Intern Med. 2013;1(2):21-24. doi: 10.11648/j.ajim.20130102.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajim.20130102.13,
      author = {Michael D Innis},
      title = {Kawasaki Disease – Tissue Scurvy Misdiagnosed as Non-accidental Injury},
      journal = {American Journal of Internal Medicine},
      volume = {1},
      number = {2},
      pages = {21-24},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajim.20130102.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajim.20130102.13},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajim.20130102.13},
      abstract = {Kawasaki Disease is an illness of unknown aetiology,occurs worldwide,and mainly affects Japanese or Asian children under 5 years of age. One feature of the disease, extensive bruising, suggested the possibility of Vitamin C deficiency since it is one of the main causes of bruises in children.  Vitamin C deficiency may present in the form of “Tissue Scurvy” – an autoimmune disorder in which there is an abundance of Vitamin C in the body(unlike the Seafarer Scurvy of yesteryear)but it is inhibited from entering the cell to perform its functions because of the lack of insulin which is essential for the transfer of Vitamin C into the cell.Here it is shown a child presenting with the signs and symptoms of Kawasaki Disease was found to have hyperglycaemia, implying insulin deficiency.It is concluded that Kawasaki Disease is an autoimmune disorderfollowing antigenic stimulation in a genetically susceptible child.},
     year = {2013}
    }
    

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    AB  - Kawasaki Disease is an illness of unknown aetiology,occurs worldwide,and mainly affects Japanese or Asian children under 5 years of age. One feature of the disease, extensive bruising, suggested the possibility of Vitamin C deficiency since it is one of the main causes of bruises in children.  Vitamin C deficiency may present in the form of “Tissue Scurvy” – an autoimmune disorder in which there is an abundance of Vitamin C in the body(unlike the Seafarer Scurvy of yesteryear)but it is inhibited from entering the cell to perform its functions because of the lack of insulin which is essential for the transfer of Vitamin C into the cell.Here it is shown a child presenting with the signs and symptoms of Kawasaki Disease was found to have hyperglycaemia, implying insulin deficiency.It is concluded that Kawasaki Disease is an autoimmune disorderfollowing antigenic stimulation in a genetically susceptible child.
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Author Information
  • Retired Haematologist, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane,Australia

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