Fine-needle aspiration cytology of Kikuchi Fujimoto disease

Kikuchi disease (KD) is an enigmatous, self-limiting, rarely fatal, disease of young females. The self-limiting disorder usually occurs in Asian women in their late 20s or early 30s. Typically it runs a benign course and appears to resolve spontaneously one to six months after definitive diagnosis. We report a 27 years old lady presenting with cervical lymphadenopathy. Fine needle aspiration cytology of the node clinched the diagnosis revealing crescentic histiocytes, plasmacytoid monocytes, extracellular (karyorrhectic) debris and necrosis. The diagnosis was subsequently confirmed by histopathology.