Child Fatality Associated with Pathological Features of Histiocytic Necrotizing Lymphadenitis (Kikuchi-Fujimoto Disease)

Abstract

We report a case of histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis without granulocytic infiltration (Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease), diagnosed at necropsy in a 19-month-old child dying unexpectedly after a febrile illness. This is the youngest case with this disease that has been thus far reported. It is one of only two reported cases in which the patient died during the acute phase of the illness. Histological findings not unlike those seen in the lymph nodes were present at extranodal sites; this is the first case in which this feature has been described. In keeping with many other reported cases, it was not possible to identify an underlying etiology that might explain the morphologic changes.