A comparative study of Kimura's disease and IgG4-related disease: similarities, differences and overlapping features

Kimura disease forming a human polyomavirus 6–negative parotid gland nodule with prominent squamous metaplasia in a young female: A case report

A case of an asymptomatic 19-year-old woman with Kimura disease presenting with a nodule in the right parotid gland is presented. She had a medical history of atopic dermatitis and noticed a mass on her right-side neck. Cervical lymphadenopathy was clinically diagnosed. The initial management plan was to observe the lesion, which had enlarged from 1 cm to 2 cm in diameter 6 months later. An excisional biopsy was performed, and the pathology confirmed an eosinophil-containing inflammatory parotid gland lesion with many squamous nests and cysts, mimicking a parotid gland tumor. High serum immunoglobulin E levels, peripheral blood eosinophilia, and pathological and genetic diagnoses confirmed Kimura disease. The lesion tested negative for human polyomavirus 6. No recurrence was observed 15 months after the biopsy. The prognosis of Kimura disease without human polyomavirus 6 infection may be favorable; however, further validation of this hypothesis is required as only 5 or 6 cases of Kimura disease have been evaluated for this viral infection. Proliferative squamous metaplasia occurring in parotid gland lesions of Kimura disease is rare and may complicate the diagnostic imaging and pathological diagnosis.

Coexisting Nodular Sclerosis Hodgkin Lymphoma and Kimura's Disease: A Case Report and Literature Review

Kimura's disease (KD) is a rare lymphoproliferative fibroinflammatory disorder that commonly affects the subcutaneous tissue and lymph nodes of the head and neck. The condition is a reactive process involving T helper type 2 cytokines. Concurrent malignancies have not been described. Differential diagnosis with lymphoma can be challenging without tissue biopsy. Here, we present the first reported case of coexisting KD and eosinophilic nodular sclerosis Hodgkin lymphoma of the right cervical lymphatics in a 72-year-old Taiwanese man.

Immunoglobulin G4-Related Disease, Lymphadenopathy, and Lymphoma

Lymphadenopathy occurring in patients with immunoglobulin G4 (IgG4)-related disease, termed IgG4-related lymphadenopathy, shows morphologic heterogeneity and overlap with other nonspecific causes of lymphadenopathy including infections, immune-related disorders, and neoplasms. This review describes the characteristic histopathologic features and diagnostic approach to IgG4-related disease and IgG4-related lymphadenopathy, with comparison to nonspecific causes of increased IgG4-positive plasma cells in lymph nodes, and with emphasis on distinction from IgG4-expressing lymphoproliferative disorders.

An Unusual Case of Systemic Lymphadenopathy - Kimura's Disease

Background

Kimura's disease (KD) is a rare, chronic inflammatory disease. Clinically, subcutaneous nodules of the head and neck are typical manifestations, often accompanied by local lymphadenopathy or salivary gland enlargement, but there is also systemic damage, such as kidney involvement. Due to the lack of specific markers and imaging examination is not specific, it is difficult to clinically diagnose accurately and can be easy to misdiagnose. The treatment of KD is still not standardized and overtreatment can affect the quality of life.

Case Presentation

The case of a 26-year-old man complaining of chest pain with self-conscious progressive lymphadenopathy after receiving Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for more than 1 month is presented. Eosinophil levels were normal and IgE elevated and the final diagnosis of KD was eventually confirmed by lymph node biopsy, which revealed lymphadenopathy with extensive eosinophilic infiltration in the right neck. Treatment was prednisone combined with methotrexate, resulting in satisfactory control.

Conclusion

This case demonstrates that that Kimura disease can involve systemic lymphadenopathy, not only in the head and face or regional lymphadenopathy, suggested that KD should be excluded in patients with systemic lymphadenopathy. The current patient's response to treatment suggested that corticosteroid combined with disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DENARDs) was a promising treatment for KD patients with systemic damage. It is worth noting that the mechanism of immunity in the pathogenesis of KD still needs to be further studied.

Kimura disease in children: A report of 11 cases and review of the literature

INTRODUCTION

Kimura disease (KD), also known as eosinophilic hyperplastic lymphoid granuloma, is a rare benign chronic inflammatory condition, which is featured with the painless progressive mass located in the subcutaneous area of the head and neck region, elevated peripheral blood eosinophils, and raised serum immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels. KD is uncommon in clinical practice, especially with low incidence in children, so it often leads to misdiagnosis or missed diagnosis in pediatric patients.

METHODS

The clinical data of 11 pediatric patients with KD in the authors' institution were retrospectively analyzed.

RESULTS

There were 11 pediatric patients with KD enrolled in total, including 9 male patients and 2 female patients (sex ratio 4.5:1). The median age at diagnosis stood at 14 years (range 5-18 years), the initial symptoms in all patients included painless subcutaneous masses and focal swelling, the duration of symptoms ranged from 1 month to 10 years, and the average duration was 24.45 months. Six patients had single lesions, and 5 had multiple lesions. The highest proportion of lesion regions were parotid gland (n = 5, 31.3%) and retroauricular (n = 5, 31.3%), followed by cervical lymph nodes (n = 4, 25%), and others (n = 2,12.5; elbow n = 1; back n = 1). The eosinophil absolute count elevated in all patients, ranging from 0.71×10⁹/L to 10.35 ×10⁹/L (normal range 0.02-0.52×10⁹/L). IgE levels were increased in all 7 patients who underwent serum immunoglobulin examination (normal range <100 IU/mL). Three patients received oral corticosteroid treatment while 2 relapsed. Three patients received surgical resection combined with oral corticosteroid treatment, and no patient relapsed. The other 3 patients received surgery and radiotherapy, surgery combined with corticosteroid and cyclosporin and corticosteroid combined with leflunomide respectively, and no patient relapsed.

CONCLUSION

Base on the study, it is found that Kimura disease is rare and may have the atypical symptoms in pediatric patients, combination therapy is recommended to reduce recurrence, and long-term follow-up should be performed.

Kimura Disease of the Periorbita and Earlobe in a 15-Year-Old Male: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

PURPOSE

The authors describe a case of Kimura disease (KD) affecting the lacrimal gland, the ipsilateral periorbita, and the contralateral earlobe. The authors also review the literature for characteristics and outcomes of KD affecting the periorbita or earlobe.

METHODS

The authors review retrospectively a single chart and abstract data from the English language literature.

RESULTS

A 15-year-old Samoan male presented with a left upper eyelid mass and later the contralateral earlobe and ipsilateral periorbita. Surgical resection was partially effective and normal vision and eye motility were maintained. Histopathology was consistent with KD. Thirty-seven cases of periorbital KD were identified in the literature. The average age of patients with periorbital KD was 31.9 years (standard deviation: 17.8 years), with 81.1% (30/37) of patients being male and 69.4% (25/36) Asian. Over half of periorbital KD patients had lacrimal gland involvement (51.3%; 19/37). Fifteen patients were initially treated with surgery; 3 (20%) had recurrence of the disease. Another 15 patients were initially treated with corticosteroids; 12 (80%) had recurrence of the disease. Ophthalmologic data, when reported, demonstrated that, most patients had no visual (77.8%; 14/18 patients) or motility disturbances (82.4%; 14/17 patients) but most had proptosis 71.4% (10/14). Only 4 cases of earlobe involvement in KD were identified, all in women.

CONCLUSIONS

In the literature, orbital KD was rare but often affected the lacrimal gland and caused proptosis, commonly in young adult Asian males. Vision and extraocular motility were usually normal. Earlobe involvement was very rare. This unique case of KD that affected the orbit and contralateral earlobe corroborates the prior literature that KD is prone to recurrence but may not adversely affect vision or extraocular motility.

Kimura's disease: A clinicopathological study of 23 cases

Introduction

Kimura's disease (KD) is an uncommon lymphoproliferative fibroinflammatory disorder. Patients present with head and neck subcutaneous nodules with or without lymphadenopathy. Peripheral blood eosinophilia and elevated serum immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels are typical. This study was designed to delineate the clinicopathological features, pattern of care, and disease course of 23 Taiwanese patients with KD.

Methods

We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 23 consecutive cases (16 male and 7 female; age at diagnosis: 12-77 years) of KD diagnosed at our institution from 2015 to 2020.

Results

The median time from presentation to diagnosis was 1 month. Twenty-one patients presented with unilateral or bilateral head and neck masses. The remaining two presented with right flank and right arm lesions, respectively. Peripheral blood eosinophilia was observed in nine, and elevated IgE levels were observed in four. All were diagnosed using either excisional or core-needle biopsy. Seven patients underwent fine needle aspiration without a diagnostic yield. Salivary gland and lymph node involvement was observed in three and seven patients, respectively. Most lesions showed tissue eosinophilia (100%) and florid follicular hyperplasia (78.26%). Three cases had histological KD-IgG4-RD overlap and three had comorbid IgG4-RD were recognized. Thirteen patients underwent surgical resection, one received adjuvant therapy, and two received prednisolone monotherapy.

Conclusion

KD should be considered in patients with subcutaneous masses, eosinophilia, and elevated IgE levels. Biopsy remains the gold standard of diagnosis. Increased recruitment of IgG4⁺ plasma cells is a common feature. Consideration of IgG4-RD in all KD patients may be prudent.

Successful treatment of dupilumab in Kimura disease independent of IgE: A case report with literature review

Kimura disease (KD) is a rare and benign chronic inflammatory disease of unknown cause. It is characterized by subcutaneous granuloma of soft tissues in the head and neck region, increased eosinophil count, and elevated serum IgE. Currently, no definitive treatments are recommended. A 57-year-old Chinese man was diagnosed with KD after 7 years of slow subcutaneous masses growth. The patient underwent treatment of oral glucocorticoids for 1 year, but the masses recurred as the dosage was tapered down. Subsequent anti-IgE therapy of omalizumab administered subcutaneously at 450 mg/day at a 4-week interval did not show improvement. The size of masses and serum IgE and circulating eosinophils did not decrease significantly after 19 cycles of continuous treatment. Ultimately, switched strategy of dupilumab was applied at an initial dose of 600 mg, followed by 300 mg every 2 weeks for 4 months. This treatment demonstrated dramatical effects with reduced masses in each area and fast dropdown of eosinophil counts, while the high level of serum IgE remained without changes. Recently, different biologics including anti-IgE, anti-IL-5, and anti-IL-4/IL-13 have been applied to treat KD with satisfied results and help to explore the pathogenesis of this rare disease. To our knowledge, this is the first report that demonstrates the effects of two different biologics in the same patient and reveals the impressive clinical efficacy of dupilumab to treat KD independent of IgE. Therefore, further investigation of the underlying mechanism and the development of diagnosis and treatment of KD is valuable.

Comparison of Clinical Manifestations and Pathology between Kimura Disease and IgG4-Related Disease: A Report of Two Cases and Literature Review

Kimura disease (KD) is a rare, chronic proliferative condition presenting as a subcutaneous mass predominantly located in the head and neck region; it is characterized by eosinophilia and elevated serum IgE levels. IgG4-related disease (IgG4RD) is a fibroinflammatory condition characterized by swelling in single or multiple organs and the infiltration of IgG4 plasma cells. Herein, we presented two cases. Case 1 is a 38-year-old man with a painless mass in his right postauricular region, and Case 2 is a 36-year-old man with painless lymphadenopathy in his bilateral postauricular region. After surgical excision, they showed good recovery with no relapse. Although Cases 1 and 2 shared several overlapping pathological manifestations, there were a few differences that allowed the differentiation of KD and IgG4RD.