title: Kikuchi disease presenting as a flu-like illness with rash and lymphadenopathy.
abstract: Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease (Kikuchi Disease) is a self-limited and benign systemic lymphadenitis of unknown cause, originally described by Kikuchi and Fujimoto and coworkers in 1972. Although relatively uncommon, it is increasingly discussed in the medical literature. Clinical presentation typically includes adenopathy, particularly cervical, with fever and flu-like symptoms. This constellation of symptoms, in the presence of a characteristic histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis, provides the clinicopathologic diagnosis. The immunopathogenesis of Kikuchi disease may lie in a hyperactive response to viral infection. We describe an African American man with Kikuchi disease, unusual in the extent of his rash and debilitation, and in the relapse of his clinical symptoms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, The George Washington University Medical Center, Washington DC, USA.
authors.forename: E N
authors.initials: EN
authors.lastname: Mugnaini
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Watson
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guccion
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Benator
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001706:Biopsy; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005076:Exanthema; D005334:Fever; D020042:Histiocytic Necrotizing Lymphadenitis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D012008:Recurrence