This one was from the heart of a 20-year-old jujitsu fighter who was last seen at the gym and was found dead in his bed two days later. The blood vessel tissue on the slide looked abnormal. Dr. Burns turned to the examiner: “I think this was likely one of mine.”Dr. Burns is an expert in a rare childhood illness called Kawasaki disease, which is the most common cause of acquired heart disease in children worldwide. It is also one of pediatric medicine’s greatest mysteries: No one knows what causes it. And Dr. Burns, who leads the investigations at the University of California San Diego’s Kawasaki Disease Research Center, has devoted her life to solving that mystery.

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Persons: Dr, Jane Burns, Burns Organizations: CSI, University of California San, Kawasaki Disease Research Locations: San Diego County