2025 Volume 37 Issue 1 Pages 28-34
Kimura’s disease is a chronic inflammatory disease that forms painless masses in subcutaneous soft tissues. It is mainly found in the head and neck region, particularly in the parotid, submandibular, and buccal areas. We herein report a rare case of Kimura’s disease arising from the epiglottis.
The patient was a 33-year-old female with a history of asthma, who presented with enlargement of the epiglottis, which was incidentally noted during the induction of general anesthesia. She had previously undergone a biopsy, which showed no malignant findings or only lymphatic hyperplasia. Consequently, she discontinued her hospital visits on her own.
A blood analysis revealed an elevated peripheral blood eosinophil count, and cervical MRI showed a uniform high-signal mass on T2-weighted imaging. We performed epiglottic tumor resection for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Permanent pathology showed an eosinophilic infiltrate, an enlarged lymph follicle with a germinal center, and Wathin-Finkeldey-type multinucleated giant cells. Based on these findings, we made a diagnosis of Kimura’s disease.
A postoperative blood examination revealed a decrease in peripheral blood eosinophil and IgE counts. The patient showed no evidence of recurrence 14 months after surgery. Even in cases of mass lesions at atypical sites, Kimura’s disease should be considered in the differential diagnosis based on the patient’s history and increased peripheral blood eosinophil counts.
