Advancing Kawasaki Disease Research in the Arab World: Scoping Literature Review Analysis with Emphasis on Giant Coronary Aneurysms

To evaluate giant aneurysms (GiAn) prevalence in Arab countries and examine contributing factors; and to review Kawasaki disease (KD) publication trends and collaborations among Arab nations. A scoping literature review was conducted to analyze the publications across the Arab world, spanning 16 countries from 1978 to 2023. The collected articles were a combination of database search with a call on Kawasaki Disease Arab Initiative (Kawarabi) members to share non-PubMed publications. Over 45 years, 50 articles originated from the Arab Countries with a 30% average annual growth rate in KD research output. Publications were evenly split between case reports (42%) and institutional series (52%). Research productivity lagged in developing nations with UAE, KSA and Egypt, contributed to 64% of total publications. Among 26 institutional series, 256 coronary artery aneurysms (CAA) from a total of 1264 KD cases were reported. Of those, 25 CAA were GiAn (prevalence 1.43% [range 0–12.5%]). The initial KD misdiagnosis rate was 4%, and incomplete KD (iKD) averaged 10.6%. Series (38.5%) that did not report iKD correlated with a higher prevalence of CAA, but not of GiAn. Longer fever duration emerged as a pivotal factor for GiAn (OR 5.06, 95%CI 1.51–17). This review unveils the research landscape of KD in the Arab world over 45 years. Initial misdiagnosis, untreated cases, delayed diagnosis and underreporting of iKD are contributing factors for an underestimated epidemiology, explaining the higher GiAn prevalence. This calls for strategic interventions to enhance KD research in these countries, aligning with Kawarabi’s mission.