Kikuchi's Disease: A Rare Cause of Fever and Lymphadenopathy

Necrotizing lymphadenitis: Not always tuberculosis, its Kikuchi-Fujimoto's disease

Kikuchi-Fujimoto's disease is an uncommon self limiting, benign cause of generalised lymphadenopathy with fever. It can present as a triad of fever, night sweats and lymphadenopathy which resembles more common causes like tuberculosis and lymphoma. Being an endemic country a patient may be treated on the lines of tuberculosis often. We present case of a young female who was diagnosed as Kikuchi-Fujimoto's disease after not responding to antitubercular treatment. Pathologists and Clinicians must be aware of this condition to prevent unnecessary treatment.

TB or not to be? Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease: a rare but important differential for TB

A 29-year-old British Pakistani woman presented with a 2-month history of drenching fevers, night sweats, lethargy and tender cervical and axillary lymphadenopathy. Initial investigations, bloods and imaging were unremarkable. Fever persisted during her admission, and treatment for tuberculosis (TB) lymphadenitis was started postbiopsy until histology confirmed a diagnosis of Kikuchi-Fujimoto's disease (KFD). KFD has a non-specific presentation of fever, night sweats and lymphadenopathy and commonly raises a clinical suspicion of a number of other serious conditions such as TB, lymphoma, HIV, systemic lupus erythematous, toxoplasmosis and infectious mononucleosis. Although rare, KFD should be considered to be a differential diagnosis for fever of unknown origin and tender lymphadenopathy in otherwise well individuals. This case demonstrates the importance of a timely histological biopsy diagnosis to prevent an incorrect diagnosis and administration of unnecessary medications.

Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease: a diagnostic dilemma

Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease is a benign, self-limiting condition characterized by lymphadenopathy and fever. Its diagnosis can be challenging, as the disease must be differentiated from lymphoma and systemic lupus erythematosus. Patients can present with nonspecific cutaneous lesions. Adequate clinical and histopathologic correlation can aid in the timely diagnosis of Kikuchi's disease, thus preventing the use of unnecessary diagnostic procedures and inappropriate treatments.

Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease: an unusual cause of neck swelling in pregnancy

Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease (KFD) is an unusual cause of lymphadenopathy and fever. Pregnancy associated with KFD presents as a diagnostic dilemma for clinicians. The diagnosis can be confirmed with invasive biopsies or non-invasive gene analysis. We report a case of a 24-year-old woman at 18 weeks' gestation with a neck lump and histologically confirmed KFD.

Association between Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease and Streptococcus pneumoniae infection

Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease is a rare histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis that affects typically young women causing fever and painful laterocervical lymphadenopathy. The etiology is unknown, but several viral infections and autoimmune diseases have been related with the disease. Bacterial infections are less frequent. Diagnosis needs for excisional lymph node biopsy that shows paracortical areas of coagulative necrosis with abundant debris, distortion of the nodal architecture, and a large amount of histiocytes at the margins of the necrotic areas. There is no specific treatment for the disease. We present the case of a young woman with Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease associated with lower respiratory tract infection by Streptococcus pneumoniae and review the literature.

Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease: a rare but important differential diagnosis for lymphadenopathy

A 23-year-old man presented with a 6-week history of fevers, cervical lymphadenopathy and fatigue. A CT of the neck, chest, abdomen and pelvis showed left cervical lymphadenopathy, enlarged lymph nodes in the axilla and groin and hepatomegaly. A left cervical excisional lymph node biopsy was undertaken and the histopathological findings were consistent with Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease. He was treated with high-dose prednisolone for 1 week, which was then tapered. Generalised arthralgia and daily episodes of malaise were experienced for a subsequent 2 months following the cessation of corticosteroids. The condition lasted 4 months from the onset of symptoms. This case report highlights the importance of including Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease as a differential diagnosis for lymphadenopathy. Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease has commonly been mistaken for tuberculosis and lymphoma, and unnecessary exposure to agents used to treat these conditions can be avoided by prompt histological diagnosis.