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Case Reports: Rare disease
Kikuchi-Fujimoto-like lymphadenopathy following COVID-19 vaccine: diagnosis and management
  1. Veronica Betancur1,
  2. Jose Net1,
  3. Jennifer Chapman2 and
  4. Monica Yepes1
  1. 1Department of Radiology, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida, USA
  2. 2Department of Pathology, University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, Florida, USA
  1. Correspondence to Veronica Betancur; vxb97{at}med.miami.edu

Abstract

A woman in her mid 40s presented for breast imaging after 1 week of painful and enlarged right axillary lymphadenopathy. She denied history of fever, weight loss, night sweats fatigue, cat scratch or other trauma. She received the second dose of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine 3 months previously on the contralateral arm. A mammogram demonstrated a single, asymmetric, large and dense right axillary lymph node. Ultrasound confirmed a 2.5 cm lymph node with cortical thickening of 0.6 cm. Ultrasound-guided core biopsy showed necrotising lymphadenitis with associated aggregates of histiocytes and plasmacytoid dendritic cells. Potential causes of necrotising adenitis including Bartonella, tuberculosis, Epstein-Barr Virus, herpes simplex virus, systemic lupus erythematosus and lymphoma were excluded. In the absence of any identifiable infectious or autoimmune causes, and given the temporal relatedness with vaccine administration, it was determined that the Kikuchi-Fujimoto-like necrotising lymphadenitis was likely secondary to the COVID-19 vaccine. To date, there has been no casual association made between the COVID-19 vaccine and KFD necrotising lymphadenitis.

  • Radiology
  • Immunological products and vaccines

https://doi.org/10.1136/bcr-2022-252030

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors VB contributed with the design, literature search, drafting and revision of the manuscript. JN contributed with imaging preparation, drafting and critical revision of the manuscript. JC interpreted the patient’s pathology, prepared pathology imaging and contributed to the manuscript draft and critical revision. MY identified the patient, managed the patient’s breast imaging and biopsy, and contributed to the draft and critical revision, as well as approval of the manuscript.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Case reports provide a valuable learning resource for the scientific community and can indicate areas of interest for future research. They should not be used in isolation to guide treatment choices or public health policy.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.