Kawasaki shock syndrome in an Arab female: case report of a rare manifestation and review of literature

BACKGROUND: Kawasaki disease shock syndrome is a relatively new and rare complication of Kawasaki disease first described in 2009. CASE PRESENTATION: This report describes a two-year-old Arab descent female presenting with a history of high-grade fever of 2 days duration with non-specific signs of viral illness and erythematous rash. The patients’ condition deteriorated rapidly requiring admission to intensive care unit. In the intensive care unit, she developed a right upper quadrant mass that was diagnosed as hydrops of the gallbladder by ultrasonography. After one dose of intravenous immunoglobulin, the patient started to recover and was transferred out of intensive care after 2 days. CONCLUSION: Among the complications of Kawasaki disease, shock syndrome is rare and usually will have deleterious results if not diagnosed and managed promptly. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12887-019-1662-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.