Kikuchi's disease (histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis) with cutaneous involvement

Kikuchi's disease (histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis) is a benign, reactive lymphadenitis possibly caused by a virus. Most patients have also been reported from Japan, but sporadic cases have been reported in Europe, the United States, and other Asian countries.l'? Cutaneous involvement has been observed in about 30% of patients. However, cutaneous lesions alone would be difficult to differentiate histologically from malignant lymphoma. We describe a clinical and immunohistologic study of a patient with this disease.