Kimura’s disease of head and neck: a rare case presentation

Abstract

Kimura’s disease (KD) is a rare, unusual occurrence, predominantly seen in Asian men, and poses a diagnostic challenge, often manifesting with allergic, eosinophilic hyperplasia, and nonspecific lymphadenitis. A 39-year-old man presented with mobile, well circumscribed, facial and neck swelling. His earlier biopsy showed a reactive lymph node hyperplasia on ultrasound neck and was suggestive of lipomatosis. As definitive diagnosis could not be made, the patient was planned for excision and biopsy. Subsequent histopathology demonstrated eosinophilic infiltration of lymphoid follicles and expansion of interfollicular area with interfollicular eosinophilic abscess formation and capillary venule proliferation. This was quite interesting as the previously diagnosed case of nonspecific lymphadenitis based on biopsy later turned out to be a rare occurrence of KD. Furthermore, because of other systemic symptoms (pedal edema and eye irritation), which probably reflected generalized manifestations of KD, the patient was referred to a rheumatologist after diagnosis, where he was effectively managed with immunotherapy and steroids.