Kawarabi: Administrative Structuring of a Multicenter Research Collaborative to Study Kawasaki Disease in the Arab Countries

Yousra Arab, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada.
Ashraf S. Harahsheh, Division of Cardiology, Department of Pediatrics, Children's National Hospital, George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences, Washington, DC, USA.
Nagib Dahdah, Division of Pediatric Cardiology, CHU Ste-Justine, Montreal, Canada.
Nermeen El-Kholy, Mirdif Private Hospital, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Maysam Y. Abed, Al-Ramadi Maternity and Child Teaching Hospital, Al-Ramadi, Iraq.
Sima Y. Abu Al-Saoud, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Makassed Hospital, Al-Quds University, East- Jerusalem, Palestine.
Hala M. Agha, Pediatric Cardiology Division, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.
Fahad Alahmadi, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Taibah University, Madinah, Saudi Arabia.
Suad R. Alamer, Mohammed Bin Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa Cardiac Centre, Awali, Bahrain.
Zainab Al Awadhi, Al Jalila Children's Speciality Hospital, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Sulafa Ali, Sudan Heart Center, University of Kharthoum, Kharthoum, Sudan.
Mohamed T. Ali, Omar Almukhtar University, Bayda, Libya.
Hanifa Alrabte, Pediatric Cardiology Department, Tripoli Children Hospital, Tripoli, Libya.
Hesham Al-Saloos, Division of Cardiology, Sidra Medicine, Doha, Qatar.
Khalfan S. Al-Senaidi, Division of Pediatric Cardiology, Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat, Oman.
Raed Alzyoud, Pediatric Immunology, Allergy, and Rheumatology Division, Queen Rania Children's Hospital, Amman, Jordan.
Najat Awidat, Tripoli University Hospital, Tripoli, Libya.
Kenza Bouayed, Abderrahim Harouchi Mother-Child Hospital, CHU Ibn Rochd, Casablanca, Morocco.
Asma Bouaziz, Children and Neonatal Department, Hôpital Régional, Ben Arous, Tunisia.
Rachida Boukari, Department of Pediatrics, University Hospital Mustapha Bacha, Algiers University, Alger, Algeria.
Mona M. El Ganzoury, Division of Pediatric Cardiology, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
Hala M. Elmarsafawy, Division of Pediatric Cardiology, Children's Hospital, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt.
Najat Elrugige, Pediatric Cardiology Department, Benghazi Children Hospital, Benghazi University, Benghazi, Libya.
Zohra Fitouri, Division of Rheumatology, Pediatric Hospital of Béchir Hamza of Tunis, University Tunis El Manar, Tunis, Tunisia.
Alyaa Kotby, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
Mohamed S. Ladj, Department of Pediatrics, Djillali Belkhenchir University Hospital, Algiers, Algeria.
Mokhtar Bekkar, Division of Pediatric Cardiology, Department of Pediatrics, CHU Oran, Oran, Algeria.
Pierre Mouawad, Department of Pediatrics, Saint George Hospital University Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon.
Aso F. Salih, Pediatric Cardiology Department, Children's Heart Hospital-Sulaimani College of Medicine, Sulaimani University, Al-Sulaimaniyah, Iraq.
Mohamed Suleiman, Kids Heart Medical Center, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Nadine F. Choueiter, Division of Pediatric Cardiology, Department of Pediatrics, Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai Kravis Children's Hospital, New York, NY, USA.

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

11-19-2023

Journal

World journal for pediatric & congenital heart surgery

DOI

10.1177/21501351231205570

Keywords

Arab; Kawasaki disease; multicenter collaborative

Abstract

Kawasaki disease (KD), the leading cause of acquired heart disease in children in developed countries, merits conducting detailed studies in Arab countries. We introduce Kawarabi, as a multicenter research collaborative effort dedicated to improving diagnosis, care, and outcome of children and adults with KD in the Arab world. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there emerged a new multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children; a disease similar to KD. This highlighted the challenges that Arab physicians face in diagnosing and managing children with KD and KD-like illnesses. Kawarabi brings together experts in North America and Arab nations to study this family of diseases in a not-for-profit, voluntary scientific collaborative setting. Bylaws addressing the vision, objectives, structure, and governance of Kawarabi were established, and vetted by the 45 organizing members in 2021. An initial scientific publication showed evidence of a decreased level of awareness of the disease in the general population, as well as the lack of access to resources available for physicians caring for children with KD in Arab countries. Kawarabi has since held several educational webinars and an inaugural yearly meeting. The groundwork for future initiatives targeted at increasing awareness and understanding of the management and the long-term outcomes of children with KD in the region was established. Data on KD in the Arab world are lacking. Kawarabi is a multicenter research collaborative organization that has the unique resources, diversified ethnic makeup, and energy, to accomplish significant advances in our understanding and management of KD and its variants.

Department

Pediatrics

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