The prevalence of NDDs in children ranges from 3% to 18% worldwide; the prevalence varies among different populations and different study designs [13-19]. Although NDDs in children are common and essentially nonfatal, their treatment is expensive and imposes heavy burden not only on patients but also on family and society. In the present study, we found that 16.8% of children with KD developed NDDs at follow-up (3–12 years), which was significantly higher than that in the Taiwan population. Their NDDs were highly variable, including developmental language disorders, followed by ADHD, epilepsy, TS, ID, and sleep-associated disorders. Moreover, we found higher incidences of epilepsy and TS in the study group, which were significant in both Taiwan and worldwide. However, a higher prevalence of ASD was found in the study, but this was not significantly different when compared with worldwide data [38-54].
Whether KD results in long-term neurological problems is still controversial, and few studies have explored their relevance. A retrospective study including 65 patients reported an increase in long-term behavior sequelae in children following KD when compared with hospital- and sibling-matched controls [8]. By contrast, another study showed no difference in the incidence of general physical and psychosocial health in 110 children with KD compared with the general population sample [7]. In Taiwan, a nationwide study indicated that patients with KD may not have an increased risk of ADHD [55]. By contrast, another population-based study in Taiwan showed that ADHD patients had an increased prevalence of various allergic or autoimmune diseases, including asthma, atopic dermatitis, urticaria, ankylosing spondylitis, ulcerative colitis, and autoimmune thyroid disease; however, KD was not included in this study [56]. Kuo et al. [57] investigated the association between KD and autism in Taiwan by using the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database and observed no statistical significance between KD and control groups during the 5-year follow-up period. A negative correlation was observed between KD and ID from the analysis of the same database [58].
The correlation between KD and epilepsy and TS is the most noteworthy part of this study. When we conducted a literature review regarding KD and epilepsy or seizures, we found that only few articles have discussed their relevance. Shimakawa et al. described seizure characteristics in the clinical course of KD. A case report mentioned an infant who developed petechia lesions and seizures due to subdural hemorrhage during the acute stage of KD [59]. Acute encephalopathy and seizures were reported to be the initial presentation of KD or preceded the classic symptoms of KD [60]. However, all these aforementioned studies were clinical reports and did not mention the long-term risk of epilepsy. Although we could not determine neuropathogenetic changes occurring in the brain after KD or during the acute stage of KD, our study proposed the correlation between KD and epilepsy through long-term observation. In addition, when we investigated the association between KD and TS, no associated publication was discovered in PubMed. Thus, the reason for children with KD in this study exhibiting a higher incidence of TS remains unclear. This issue requires further discussion because TS accounts for an important part of NDDs, and KD might pose as a candidate risk factor [61].
Our results partially echoed the hypothesis of previous studies for the negative correlation between KD and other NDDs, such as KD and ADHD, KD and ID, and KD and developmental language disorders. To date, the classification of NDDs is complex and is still considered “in progress” [62]. Hence, the more NDDs are discovered with time and the more we understand the role of autoimmunity in NDDs, the more we are interested in the effect of KD on NDDs [63-65]. Therefore, we assume that KD, possibly a consequence of immunologic response following a systemic, inflammatory illness [66,67], should also be regarded as a potential risk factor for NDDs. However, future studies may use larger study samples and more in-depth study designs.
This study has some limitations. First, some confounding factors may have affected the results, such as mothers’ medical condition during pregnancy, socioeconomic status, other pharmacological treatment of children with KD, different severities of KD, and other environmental factors. Second, we did not include a control group for our children with KD, the methodology used in other comparative studies was not the same as that used in the present study, and the definition of NDDs used in other comparative studies was not the same as that used in the present study (e.g., for NDDs, other studies used “prevalence, whereas we used “incidence”); in addition, inconsistent observation periods between other studies and our study may have affected final results. Third, because NDDs are a spectrum of conditions with heterogeneity in disease types, geographic incidence, and population incidence, we could not analyze all NDD types and different populations because of the restrictions of study design. Furthermore, additional research focusing on neuroimaging, genetic susceptibility, or proinflammatory cytokines and other environmental exposures may identify potential mechanisms underlying NDDs in children with KD [7].