title: Kawasaki disease in two sets of monozygotic twins: Is the etiology genetic or environmental?
abstract: Two sets of monozygotic (MZ) twins with Kawasaki disease (KD) from two different families are reported. Twin set 1, previously healthy 71-day-old MZ twin girls were diagnosed with incomplete KD and pneumonia. The symptoms occurred at the same time in both girls. Both girls had ectasia of right coronary arteries. In twin set 2, the younger of 18-month-old MZ twin boys was diagnosed with KD and bronchitis. After 53 days, his elder brother was diagnosed with the same disease. The symptoms occurred at different time, but were almost identical. Neither boy displayed coronary artery changes. These findings support the hypothesis that genes susceptible to KD and coronary-artery lesions may exist in families. The different clinical characteristics among MZ twins from different families also suggest diverse and complex nature of KD.
authors.affiliation: Xiaomei Zhang, PhD, Department of Pediatrics, The First Hospital of Jilin University, 71 Xinmin Street, Changchun, Jilin 130021, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xiaomei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Jinghui Sun, MD, Department of Pediatrics, The First Hospital of Jilin University, 71 Xinmin Street, Changchun, Jilin 130021, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jinghui
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Shubo Zhai, PhD, Department of Pediatrics, The First Hospital of Jilin University, 71 Xinmin Street, Changchun, Jilin 130021, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Shubo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhai
authors.affiliation: Sirui Yang, MD, PhD, Department of Pediatrics, The First Hospital of Jilin University, 71 Xinmin Street, Changchun, Jilin 130021, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Sirui
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yang
keywords: Genetic susceptibility; Infection; Kawasaki disease; Monozygotic twins