Kimura disease in children: A report of 11 cases and review of the literature

• Published in: Frontiers in pediatrics 2023-02, Vol.11, p.1131963-1131963
• Main Authors: Mai, Yumiao, Wang, Yingjie, Sun, Pan, Jing, Zhaohe, Dong, Pengpeng, Liu, Jian
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: children; eosinophilia; eosinophilic hyperplastic lymphoid granuloma; Kimura disease; Pediatrics; treatment
• ISSN: 2296-2360; 2296-2360
• DOI: 10.3389/fped.2023.1131963

Kimura disease (KD), also known as eosinophilic hyperplastic lymphoid granuloma, is a rare benign chronic inflammatory condition, which is featured with the painless progressive mass located in the subcutaneous area of the head and neck region, elevated peripheral blood eosinophils, and raised serum immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels. KD is uncommon in clinical practice, especially with low incidence in children, so it often leads to misdiagnosis or missed diagnosis in pediatric patients. The clinical data of 11 pediatric patients with KD in the authors' institution were retrospectively analyzed. There were 11 pediatric patients with KD enrolled in total, including 9 male patients and 2 female patients (sex ratio 4.5:1). The median age at diagnosis stood at 14 years (range 5-18 years), the initial symptoms in all patients included painless subcutaneous masses and focal swelling, the duration of symptoms ranged from 1 month to 10 years, and the average duration was 24.45 months. Six patients had single lesions, and 5 had multiple lesions. The highest proportion of lesion regions were parotid gland ( = 5, 31.3%) and retroauricular ( = 5, 31.3%), followed by cervical lymph nodes ( = 4, 25%), and others ( = 2,12.5; elbow  = 1; back = 1). The eosinophil absolute count elevated in all patients, ranging from 0.71×10 /L to 10.35 ×10 /L (normal range 0.02-0.52×10 /L). IgE levels were increased in all 7 patients who underwent serum immunoglobulin examination (normal range