Kikuchi's disease (histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis): report of one case

Kikuchi's disease (histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis) is a self-limited disease of unknown cause. The disease often presents with persistently intermittent fever and enlarged cervical lymph nodes. It usually occurs in adult group and is unresponsive to antibiotic therapy. The diagnosis can be confirmed by histopathological findings of lymph node in open biopsy. We report a pediatric case of Kikuchi's disease in an 8-year-8-month-old school-age boy with generalized lymphadenopathy. He was hospitalized under the impression of fever of unknown origin. A diagnosis of Kikuchi's disease was made by cervical lymph node histology. Reviewing the literature of Kikuchi's disease, we found very few reports in young pediatric group. We conclude that Kikuchi's disease should be considered in the differential diagnosis of fever of unknown origin in children, even in the absence of cervical lymphadenopathy.