Rosai-Dorfman disease presenting as mediastinal lymphadenopathy: case report and review of the literature

[Non-Langengars type of sinus histiocytosis with maxillofacial skin lesions (Rosai-Dorfman disease). Clinical case description]

In maxillofacial surgery, there are periodic cases of long-lasting chronic inflammation of the soft tissues without the positive effect of the conservative treatment. In these cases, questions arise of a detailed analysis of the etiology and pathogenesis of the disease, differential diagnosis of the pathological process, including those rarely encountered in the practice of a maxillofacial surgeon. One of these diseases is Rosai Dorfman's disease, which refers to extranodal histiocytosis. In domestic and foreign literature, single clinical observations are found without a detailed analysis of the diagnostic algorithm and the choice of treatment tactics. This article presents a clinical case of Rosai-Dorfman disease of a 55-year-old patient with a lesion of the soft tissues of the maxillofacial region. The described case took place in the clinic of maxillofacial surgery of the Research Institute of Dentistry of Surgical and Maxillofacial Surgery PSPbGMU named after academician I.P. Pavlova in the period from 2016 to 2019. Given the complexity of the diagnosis of this rare nosological form, we offer a specific examination algorithm that leads to a multidisciplinary comprehensive approach from disease verification to the choice of treatment tactics.

[Rosai-Dorfman disease: Diagnosis and therapeutic challenges]

Rosai-Dorfman disease (RDD) was first described by the French pathologist Paul Destombes in 1965. It frequently affects children or young adults and is characterized by the presence of large histiocytes with emperipolesis. More than 50 years after this first description, the pathogenesis of this rare disease is still poorly understood. The revised classification of histiocytoses published in 2016 identified various forms of RDD, from familial RDD to IgG4-associated RDD. Almost 90% of the patients with RDD have cervical lymph nodes involvement although all the organs may virtually be involved. Outcomes are typically favorable. Treatments may be necessary in case of compression or obstruction, and are not well codified. The main therapeutic strategies rely on surgery, radiotherapy, steroids, immunosuppressive drugs or interferon-alpha and cladribine.