We experienced 7 patients with Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease(KFD) who had presented a prolonged fever and lymphadenopathy. The clinical and the laboratory aspects of the patients were analyzed.

The medical records of the 7 KFD patients, who were confirmed by excisional lymph node biopsy from January 1996 through December 2003, were retrospectively analyzed.

The mean age of the children was 11.4±2.8 years(ranging from 8 to 15 years). The male to female ratio was 1.3 : 1. The median duration of the fever prior to admission and the total duration of the fever were 12 days(ranging from 5 to 65 days) and 27 days(ranging 9 to 75 days), respectively. One patient had supraclavicular lymphadenopathy, 5 had cercical involvement, and 1 had axillary lymphadenopathy. All the histologic findings of the lymph nodes biopsies showed the characteristic findings consistent with KFD such as paracortical necrosis with karyorrhexis and an increase in the number of phagocytic histiocytes and atypical lymphocytes. As for the laboratory findings, leukopenia(3,800±700/mm³), anemia(hemoglobin, 11.0±1.2 g/dL), an elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate(42±17 mm/hr), and a relatively low C-reactive protein level(1.3±0.9 mg/dL) were noted. Four patients received conservative therapy with antipyretics, and 3 patients were treated with prednisolone.

KFD is a rare disease, yet should be considered in the differential diagnosis for older children with prolonged fever and lymphadenopathy.