Diagnosis: Cat-Scratch Disease
• Cat-scratch disease most often manifests as self-limiting, localized lymphadenitis in the draining site of a cat scratch; it typically affects children and young adults.
• The initial site of infection is the skin, and patients may present with a papule.
• Disseminated disease develops in about 10% of infected patients. Liver, spleen, central nervous system, and bones have been reported to be involved.
• Histologically, suppurative granulomas (stellate abscesses in epithelioid cell granulomas) are characteristic.
• The causative organism of cat-scratch disease, B. henselae, is also the cause of bacillary angiomatosis and bacillary peliosis, vascular diseases affecting the skin and the spleen, respectively.
