Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease during early pregnancy

Go Ichikawa; Yasuyuki Negishi; Fumihisa Chishima; Shunji Suzuki

doi:10.1111/jog.15928

Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease during early pregnancy

J Obstet Gynaecol Res. 2024 Mar 21. doi: 10.1111/jog.15928. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Go Ichikawa^{1

2}, Yasuyuki Negishi^{1

3}, Fumihisa Chishima^{4

5}, Shunji Suzuki¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan.
² Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Chiba Hokusoh Hospital, Nippon Medical School, Chiba, Japan.
³ Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan.
⁴ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kawaguchi Municipal Medical Center, Saitama, Japan.
⁵ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Nihon University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.

PMID: 38511280
DOI: 10.1111/jog.15928

Abstract

Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease (KFD) is rare during pregnancy. It is characterized by necrotizing lymphadenitis and often occurs in young Asian women. We report a case of KFD during pregnancy, which was difficult to diagnose. A 37-year-old pregnant female (gestational week [GW] 7⁺⁵) was admitted to our hospital because of hyperemesis gravidarum. On the eighth day of hospitalization (GW 8⁺⁶), she suddenly developed a fever (38.0°C) with skin rash and posterior pharynx redness. Blood tests showed pancytopenia and abnormal liver function. The patient was misdiagnosed with severe Epstein-Barr virus infection and administered with prednisolone. Subsequently, cervical lymphadenopathy was observed, and biopsy results led to the diagnosis of KFD. Thereafter, her symptoms improved, and she was discharged at GW 13⁺⁴. KFD must be included as a differential diagnosis for patients with fever, abnormal liver function, and pancytopenia during pregnancy.

Keywords: Kikuchi–Fujimoto disease; histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis; pregnancy.

Publication types

Case Reports