kikuchi-fujimoto disease: a rare presentation with localized iliac lymphadenitis

kikuchi-fujimoto disease (kfd) is a benign, self-limiting disease characterized by histiocytic necrotising lymphadenitis. though several viral agents or an autoimmune etiology has been proposed as causative, the exact cause remains unknown. it has a female predilection and most commonly seen among young asian people. patients usually present with a febrile illness and the presence of lymphadenopathy may provide a clue to diagnosis. the most common site of lymphadenopathy is cervical lymph nodes while intra-abdominal involvement is uncommon. cases of kfd presenting with intra-abdominal lymphadenopathy have been reported to occur with equal frequency in both sexes. abdominal tuberculosis, non-hodgkin’s lymphoma, and systemic lupus erythematosus are close differential diagnoses for this type of presentation. treatment is mostly supportive as the disease usually resolves spontaneously; steroids are only required in severe cases. we report a 32-year-old male patient of intra-abdominal lymphadenitis that presented as fever of unknown origin (fuo) and diagnosed by excisional biopsy as a case of kfd.