A rare case of kikuchi-fujimoto disease presenting as a mediastinal tumor with bilateral chylothorax

Abstract

Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease (KFD) or histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis is a rare, benign, and self-limiting condition with unknown etiology primarily affecting young women of Asian descent and is characterized by cervical lymphadenopathy. Diagnosis requires histopathologic examination and exclusion of other factors by ancillary studies. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma and systemic lupus erythematosus should be ruled out before a diagnosis of KFD, given the overlapped clinical and histologic features as well as the different therapeutic approaches. However, pleural effusion has rarely been reported in KFD patients. Here, we report an interesting case of an 18-year-old male who presented to us with features of cervical lymphadenopathy and fever who was later diagnosed as a case of Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease with bilateral chylothorax.