Patient Stories

Manuel Carrillo – "Manny," to his friends and family– started life like any other infant – happy, healthy, and always smiling. But at about four months, he developed a 103-degree fever. "At first, he just seemed tired," said Xiomara Bermudez, Manny's mother, "but then he developed a rash all over." Bermudez brought him to the pediatric emergency department at NSMC North Shore Children's Hospital in Salem, on the advice of her pediatrician, Dr. Richard Miller. While Manny's rash improved fairly quickly, the fever remained and Dr. Miller admitted Manny to NSMC North Shore Children's Hospital-- now called Mass General for Children at North Shore Medical Center. 

Evaluating the progression of each symptom, Dr. Miller, and Jonathan Starr, M.D., a pediatric infectious disease specialist, considered a diagnosis that was confirmed by an echocardiogram showing abnormalities of Manny's coronary arteries. Their colleagues at MassGeneral Hospital for Children concurred: Manny had atypical Kawasaki Disease. Manny's pediatrician coordinated Manny's care with MassGeneral Hospital for Children specialists, a committed group including pediatric infectious disease specialists, pediatric rheumatologists, and pediatric cardiologists.

Today, "Manny is doing well and we follow him every week at North Shore Children's," said Michael de Moor, M.D., Manny's MassGeneral Hospital for Children cardiologist. Having physicians on the North Shore who were able to diagnose the case, and specialists in Boston accustomed to treating it, has given Manny the best of both worlds. "His Mass General Hospital for Children doctors are able to see him regularly," say's Manny's mother. "The doctors and nurses have done so much for him. They are almost like family now."