Is implant pacemaker a physicochemical cause triggering Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease?
A 64 year-old Caucasian female of Greek origin was admitted to hospital with painful cervical and axillary lymphodenitis accompanied by fever and night sweats for 10 days. The patient had undergone a pacemaker implantation six weeks before disease onset because of heart conduction abnormalities. A diagnosis of Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease was established after lymph node biopsy. The etiology of the disease is unknown but viral, bacterial, protozoal; and neoplastic as well as physicochemical agents may stimulate a particular immune response. Hereby, we hypothesize that the implant pacemaker can act as a physicochemical agent triggering Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease. We present this case and we discuss various disease aspects. A brief review of the literature is also given.
Charalabopoulos
Konstantin
K
Dept. of Physiology, Clinical Unit, Medical Faculty, University of Ioannina, 13 Solomou str., 452 21 Ioannina, Greece. kcharala@cc.uoi.gr
Charalabopoulos
Alexander
A
Binolis
Jayne
J
Papalimneou
Vicky
V
Ioachim
Elli
E
D005260:Female; D020042:Histiocytic Necrotizing Lymphadenitis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D010138:Pacemaker, Artificial / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011183:Postoperative Complications