Fine Needle Aspiration Cytologic Findings of Kikuchi's Lymphadenitis - Analysis of 30 cases -

KIKUCHI 림프절염의 세침흡인 세포학적 소견 - 30예의 분석검토 -

Thirty cases of Kikuchi's lymphadenitis, diagnosed by fine needle aspiration cytology, were reviewed to determine the main cytologic features helpful in reaching a diagnosis. The patients(mean age 26.6 years, male: female = 1:3.8) presented with lymphadenopathy (cervical 24, submandibular 3, and axillary 1) with or without fever and local tenderness. Excisional biopsy was done for confirmation in 5 cases and the remaining 25 cases showed the similar cytologic and clinical features. In the aspiration smears of all cases, there was a heterogenous celluar mixture including frequent extracellular karyorrhectic nuclear debris, phagocytic histiocytes, plasmacytoid monocytes, and a variable number of polymorphous lymphocytes such as immunoblasts, activated large lymphocytes, and small mature lymphocytes. The characteristic cytologic features of Kikuchi's lymphadenitis were the following: (1) frequent extracelluar karyorrhectic nuclear debris in the background : (2) phagocytic histiocytes with eccentrically placed crescentic nuclei and abundant pale cytoplasm containing phagocytized karyorrhectic debris : (3) plasmacytoid monocytes, which were medium-sized cells with eccentrically placed round nuclei and amphophilic cytoplasm : (4) no neutrophilic background.