Kikuchi's disease and the skin: case report and review of the literature

Abstract

We report scattered indurated erythematous lesions that presented in an 18-year-old Japanese man with Kikuchi's disease (KD; histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis). A skin biopsy showed a proliferation of histiocytes and abundant nuclear debris without the presence of neutrophils, which is characteristic of KD. The specific dermatological and pathological details of KD have been yet to be fully described. In order to assess the typical skin features of KD better, we have reviewed all the previously well-documented reports of such lesions. As the clinical and histopathological cutaneous findings in KD are so heterogeneous, it is important that scattered indurated erythematous lesions should be included as one of the possible cutaneous manifestations of this disease.

Kikuchi-Fujimoto Disease With Prolonged Fever in Children

“…Extranodal involvement rarely occurs in KFD but includes skin lesions, 21 arthritis, 22 aseptic meningitis, 11,23 and unexpected death. 12,24 Two reports independently described that children with KFD experienced a severe clinical course with multiorgan failure after the use of multiple antituberculous drugs.…”

Kikuchi-Fujimoto’s disease: a case series from Sri Lanka

“…Less common manifestations include fever, axillary and mesenteric lymphadenopathy, splenomegaly, parotid gland enlargement, cutaneous rash, arthralgia, myalgia, aseptic meningiti, bone marrow haemophagocytosis and interstitial lung disease [4][5][6]. The cutaneous lesions include erythematous macules, papules, plaques and nodules [7].…”

The cutaneous lesions of Kikuchi's disease: a comprehensive analysis of 16 cases based on the clinicopathologic, immunohistochemical, and immunofluorescence studies with an emphasis on the differential diagnosis

“…It has been reported that 16.6% to 40% of the patients with KD have cutaneous involvement, and this was first described by Kuo [2] in 1990. The cutaneous manifestations and histopathologic findings are variable [3,4], and the description of the histopathologic findings of such skin lesions is limited to one case series and several case reports that include reviews of the literature [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. It has been difficult for pathologists to make a specific diagnosis based on skin biopsy specimens.…”