Epithelioid haemangioma (angiolymphoid hyperplasia with eosinophilia) and Kimura's disease in Chinese

Abstract

Although Kimura's disease has often been considered to be identical to angiolymphoid hyperplasia with eosinophilia (epithelioid haemangioma), recent studies suggest that they are different clinicopathological entities. In this study, we have made a detailed morphological comparison of 10 cases of epithelioid haemangioma and 40 cases of Kimura's disease occurring in the Chinese population. The epithelioid haemangiomas occurred in the subcutaneous tissue, skin and maxillary antrum, whereas Kimura's disease affected the subcutaneous tissue, major salivary glands and lymph nodes. Distinctive features of epithelioid haemangiomas were exuberant proliferation of vessels lined by cuboidal to hobnail endothelial cells with irregular nuclei and cytoplasmic vacuoles, fibromyxoid matrix, involvement of muscular coat of blood vessels and zonation of inflammatory infiltrate towards the peripheral portion of the lesion. Distinctive features of Kimura's disease were florid lymphoid infiltrate with prominent lymphoid follicles, vascularization of germinal centres, germinal centre necrosis, marked eosinophilia with or without eosinophil abscess formation, proliferation of high endothelial venules, and sclerosis. The histological features suggest that epithelioid haemangioma is a proliferation of atypical endothelial cells, possibly neoplastic, that is associated with a variable inflammatory infiltrate, whereas Kimura's disease is primarily an inflammatory condition in which high endothelial venules are usually found.