The Clinicopathologic Analysis of Kikuchi's Lymphadenitis

Choi, Jung Woo; Lee, Ji Hye; Lee, Ju Han; Chae, Yang Seok; Kim, Insun

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Kikuchi's disease has been known as a self-limiting lymphadenitis mostly affecting the cervical lymph nodes of young women.
METHODS
We retrospectively reviewed the clinical data of 77 cases of Kikuchi's lymphadenitis from 1996 to 2003 at Korea University Medical Center.
RESULTS
Histologically, 69 available cases were classified into three types: proliferative (60.8%), necrotizing (33.3%), and xanthomatous type (5.7%). These three types differed in terms of their clinical features, showing tenderness most predominantly in the necrotizing type. In spite of the insufficient numbers of cases, the data on the duration of the disease well correlated with the possible progression of the three histologic types (Kikuch's disease begins as proliferative type, then progress into necrotizing type and finally resolves into xanthomatous type). During the ten-month period of the mean follow-up, the recurrence rate was 7.0%. Three and two patients developed into pulmonary tuberculosis and systemic lupus erythematosus, respectively, but there were no prognostic differences among the three types.
CONCLUSIONS
Our results confirmed that Kikuchi's lymphadenitis is a self-limiting necrotizing lymphadenitis with a low rate of recurrence. Here, we suggest that the classification of histologic types have some meanings because of their differences in certain clinical aspects and possible sequential disease progression.