Four cases of Kawasaki disease resembling retropharyngeal abscess on CT

Abstract

  Between January 2005 and April 2011, we found retropharyngeal low-density areas on CT findings in four (3.8%) of 106 patients with Kawasaki disease at Shiga University of Medical Science Hospital. The ages of four patients were 1, 5, 6, and 11 years (average 5.6 years). Their initial symptoms were high fever and cervical lymphadenitis. Antibiotics were not effective, but treatment with γ-globulin and aspirin was effective, and the retropharyngeal low-density area disappeared without surgical intervention. The presence of a retropharyngeal low-density area without ring enhancement on contrast-enhanced CT may help in the early diagnosis of Kawasaki disease.