Kawasaki Disease: No Link to Travolta Death
Childhood Kawasaki Disease Unlikely Cause of Seizures in Travolta's Teenage Son Jett Travolta
Jan. 5, 2009 -- Jett Travolta's childhood brush with Kawasaki disease is highly unlikely to have caused the seizures that may have led to his death, a Kawasaki expert tells WebMD.
Jett Travolta, the 16-year-old son of actors John Travolta and Kelly Preston, died on Jan. 2. The teen, known to have suffered frequent seizures, struck his head against the bathtub in the hotel where his family was staying, according to media reports.
Kawasaki disease is a mysterious and frightening illness. Might Kawasaki disease have caused Jett Travolta's seizures?
WebMD asked Kawasaki disease expert Nathan Litman, MD, chief of infectious disease and director of pediatrics at New York's Montefiore Medical Center.
"I am unaware of any association of Kawasaki disease with seizures," Litman tells WebMD.
Kawasaki disease can leave a person with an abnormally narrow coronary artery, and this can lead to a future heart attack. Early reports suggest Jett Travolta did not suffer a heart attack; an autopsy is under way.
Kawasaki Disease: Mysterious Ailment on the Rise
Nobody knows what causes Kawasaki disease, but it can be deadly. It's not common in the U.S., although incidence is increasing in Japan.
First described in Japanese medical literature by pediatrician Tomisaku Kawasaki, MD, the disease is a disease of childhood. Litman says 80% of cases occur in children under 5. Cases are very rare in anyone over the age of 10.
John Travolta has said in interviews that his son had Kawasaki disease when he was about 2 years old. In an interview with CNN's Larry King in 2001, Travolta expressed the opinion that the illness was brought on by Jett's overexposure to cleaning products, particularly carpet cleaner.
Science has yet to discover the cause, although most researchers think it's an infectious agent, probably a virus.
That would account for why it strikes early in life, why most cases occur in the winter, and why there are Kawasaki outbreaks. But an infectious agent would likely spread in families, and Litman says it's rare to see more than one child in a family come down with Kawasaki disease.