Kikuchi Lymphadenitis : Introduction

Comments:
Kikuchi lymphadenitis (Necrotizing Lymphadenitis; Kikuchi-Fujimoto Disease) is a necrotizing lymphadenitis of unknown etiology most commonly seen in Japan and other Asian countries and less frequently in Europe and North America.

A typical patient is a young female with painless cervical lymphadenopathy. Constitutional symptoms such as fever, weakness, and weight loss may be present.

It is a benign self-limited condition in most cases. Some patients develop recurrent lymphadenopathy, skin lesions or eye involvement (uveitis, optic neuritis). Rare fatalities have been reported.

The image shows expansion of the paracortex by mononuclear cells and areas of fibrinoid necrosis (right one-third of the image) in a cervical lymph node.