Introduction: Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease (KFD), or histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis, is a rare benign, self-limiting cervical lymphadenitis of unknown etiology. It predominantly affects young women and can closely mimic infective and immunological disorders.
Case Report: We report a 25 yr old female who presented with fever, polyarthritis and cervical lymphadenopathy. She had multiple enlarged cervical nodes. Examination of other systems was normal. Laboratory investigations were also normal. Fine needle aspiration cytology of the cervical node showed features suggestive of reactive lymphadenitis and the patient was started on oral antibiotics. Since the patient did not respond, lymph node biopsy was done and the histological features suggested the diagnosis of Kikuchi's disease. Immunohistochemistry confirmed the diagnosis. The Patient was treated symptomatically and complete remission occurred in few weeks.
Conclusion: Although the incidence of Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease is rare, clinicians should be aware of this condition as early recognition of the disease will minimize potentially harmful and unnecessary evaluations and treatments.