CT of Castleman disease in the mediastinum

Castleman disease is a rare lymphoproliferative disease commonly occurring as a benign localized mass of lymph nodes in the mediastinum. Given that Castleman disease presents as asymptomatic or through non-specific thoracic symptoms, detection is considered complex. Ultimately, surgical resection is the preferred course of action with a greater than 90% relapse-free survival and no malignant transformation reported. In this article, we describe the case of a 34-year-old male with an unclear smoking history who was diagnosed with hyaline-vascular Castleman disease. We focus on optimizing diagnosis and management through the application of radiological imaging modalities, including computed tomography scans.

Castleman disease: Report of a case and review of literature on role of preoperative embolization

Introduction

Castleman disease, which was first described by Dr. Castleman in 1954, is relatively rare and represents a spectrum of heterogeneous lymphoproliferative disorders with characteristic histological features on biopsy. It is classified based on body location and histology with variable clinical presentations. Its treatment depends on the subtype, and preoperative embolization for Castleman disease has rarely been discussed in the literature.

Presentation of case

A 22-year old man presented to the ENT clinic with a four-week history of a mass on the left side of the neck, which was associated initially with headache, fever, and fatigue for 2 days. Contrast tomography and magnetic resonance imaging revealed a hypervascular mass located at levels two and three of the left side of the neck with feeding vessels from the external carotid artery. Preoperative embolization was planned; however, the neurointerventionist considered it a lymph node that did not need embolization. Surgical excision was performed with relatively increased operative time and bleeding. A biopsy confirmed a hyaline-vascular type Castleman disease.

Discussion

We reviewed the evidence-based management of CD. We reviewed the available literature on the role of preoperative embolization in management.

Conclusion

Based on published articles and the hypervascular nature of the disease, we believe that preoperative embolization helps decrease morbidity.

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Castleman disease is an angiofollicular lymph node hyperplasia and a form of lymphoproliferative disorder

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Different disease types have different clinical presentation and management

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Main treatment of unicentric castleman disease is surgical excision

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Castleman disease lymph nodes are highly vascular and are prone to intraoperative bleeding and need for blood transfusion

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Preoperative embolization can help reduce operation time and complications

Pathology of Castleman Disease

The term Castleman disease encompasses several distinct lymphoproliferative disorders with different underlying disease pathogenesis, and clinical outcomes. It includes unicentric and multicentric diseases with limited versus significant systemic symptoms, respectively. Importantly, the histopathologic features encountered in the various forms of Castleman disease are diverse, and for the most part, lack specificity, because they are seen to varying degrees in different clinical variants of Castleman disease, and in reactive (autoimmune/infectious) and malignant (lymphoma) contexts. Accordingly, accurate clinical diagnosis of Castleman disease requires careful and thorough clinicopathologic correlation. An overview of the key histopathologic features of Castleman disease is presented.

Multicentric Castleman disease of hyaline vascular variant presenting with unusual systemic manifestations: a case report

Background

Castleman disease is a rare lymphoproliferative disorder presenting with localized or disseminated lymphadenopathy and systemic manifestations. It can be categorized in numerous ways, such as unicentric versus multicentric, histopathological variants (hyaline-vascular, plasma cell, and mixed), or subtypes based on causative viral infections (human immunodeficiency virus, human herpesvirus-8, or Kaposi sarcoma herpesvirus). Presentation ranges from asymptomatic to symptoms involving multiple organs. Even though the exact mechanism of pathogenesis is unknown, treatment is directed toward possible etiologies such as interleukin-6, cluster of differentiation 20, and viral agents.

Case presentation

A 36-year-old Sri Lankan woman presented with generalized body swelling and foamy urine of 2 weeks’ duration. Examination revealed pallor; generalized edema; axillary, cervical, and inguinal lymphadenopathy; hypertension; and hepatomegaly. Investigations showed bicytopenia, nephrotic range proteinuria with hypoalbuminemia, hypogammaglobulinemia, and features of hyaline-vascular type Castleman disease in a lymph node biopsy. She was managed with rituximab and had good clinical improvement.

Conclusions

Castleman disease has a broad spectrum of clinical manifestations, disease pathogeneses, and associations and/or complications. Medical professionals need to be familiar with this spectrum because timely diagnosis and aggressive targeted therapy are the cornerstones of managing these patients.

Cytological features of Castleman disease: a review

INTRODUCTION

Castleman disease (CD) is a benign lymphoproliferative disorder with hyaline vascular (HVCD), plasma cell (PC-CD), and mixed subtypes. Only HVCD lymph node cytomorphology has been described, mainly as case reports. We reviewed all CD subtypes. To the best of our knowledge, our case series is the largest and most comprehensive yet published.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We searched our institution's database for histologically confirmed CD cytology cases (fine needle aspiration, touch preps) for the past 23 years. Two independent pathologists evaluated cytomorphology. We then reviewed touch preps from 6 histologically confirmed, non-CD reactive lymph node excisions.

RESULTS

8 patients (5 women, 3 men) had the following subtypes: HVCD (5 patients), PC-CD (2), and mixed (1). All cases had a heterogenous background population composed predominantly of small lymphocytes with single and clustered follicular dendritic cells (FDCs). The FDCs had delicate pale cytoplasm with indistinct borders showing lymphocyte emperipolesis. They were often binucleated or multinucleated with fine chromatin, regular nuclear borders, large nuclei, and small nucleoli. HVCD cases had traversing, frequently hyalinized capillaries. PC-CD cases had increased plasma cells, including binucleate forms, and tingible body macrophages with fewer FDC clusters. Human herpes virus-8 immunostain was negative in all cases. Non-specific follicular hyperplasia cases had abundant tingible body macrophages, rare hyalinized capillaries, and no lymphocyte emperipolesis.

CONCLUSIONS

CD is distinguished by background lymphocytes and cohesive FDC clusters with lymphocyte emperipolesis. HVCD has traversing, hyalinized capillaries and PC-CD has increased plasma cells and tingible body macrophages. Knowledge of these features can prevent a lymphoma misdiagnosis.

Cases report of unicentric Castleman's disease: revisit of radiotherapy role

Castleman's disease or angiofollicular lymph node hyperplasia is a rare lymphoproliferative disorder. Complete surgical resection was recommended in unicentric Castleman's disease. Radiotherapy was considered alternative therapeutic option. However, there have been consistent favorable responses to radiotherapy. We also experienced two cases of uncentric Castleman's disease salvaged successfully with radiotherapy. This paper described these cases and reviewed the literature about Castleman's disease treated with radiotherapy. Reviewed cases showed that radiotherapy is a successful treatment option in unicentric Castleman's disease. Furthermore, our report confirms the radiotherapy role in uncentric Castleman's disease.