Kimura’s Disease: Presenting as a Giant Head and Neck Mass

Abstract

We report an interesting case of Kimura’s disease (KD) that presented as a giant head and neck mass. KD is a rare chronic inflammatory disorder and usually presents as small subcutaneous swellings in the head and neck region. Such a large mass of 15 × 17.5 cm as seen in our patient has previously not been reported, to the best of our knowledge. The radiological picture was that of an enlarged subcutaneous mass with heterogeneous enhancement of the salivary gland. The histological findings were helpful in identifying the lesion as KD. The combination of these two aided us in differentiating it from other lesions such as follicular lymphoma, angiolymphoid hyperplasia with eosinophilia (ALHE) and Langerhan’s histiocytosis. There is no standard protocol for management of this disease owing to its rarity. Due to the extensive and ill-defined nature of the lesion in our patient, we have started the patient on systemic high-dose corticosteroid therapy to downsize the lesion and we plan to follow up with surgical excision if needed.