Document Type : Case Report(s)

Authors

• Shrihari Anil Anikhindi ¹
• Anil Arora ¹
• Shashi Dhawan ²
• Naresh Bansal ¹
• Praveen Sharma ¹
• Vikas Singla ¹
• Ashish Kumar ¹

¹ Department of Gastroenterology, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi

² Department of Pathology, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi

Abstract

Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease (KFD) is a benign, self-limiting disease characterized by histiocytic necrotising lymphadenitis. Though several viral agents or an autoimmune etiology has been proposed as causative, the exact cause remains unknown. It has a female predilection and most commonly seen among young Asian people. Patients usually present with a febrile illness and the presence of lymphadenopathy may provide a clue to diagnosis. The most common site of lymphadenopathy is cervical lymph nodes while intra-abdominal involvement is uncommon. Cases of KFD presenting with intra-abdominal lymphadenopathy have been reported to occur with equal frequency in both sexes. Abdominal tuberculosis, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and systemic lupus erythematosus are close differential diagnoses for this type of presentation. Treatment is mostly supportive as the disease usually resolves spontaneously; steroids are only required in severe cases. We report a 32-year-old male patient of intra-abdominal lymphadenitis that presented as fever of unknown origin (FUO) and diagnosed by excisional biopsy as a case of KFD.

Keywords

• Histiocytic necrotising lymphadenitis
• Fever of unknown origin
• Abdomen