Castleman's Disease in Unusual Location; Plasma Cell Variant

ABSTRACT

Castleman's disease, or angiofollicular lymph node hyperplasia, is a rare tumor of lymphoid origin, of unknown etiology. The expected localization is mediastinum, but rarely retroperitoneum. Localized and multicentric Castleman's diseases may be different clinical disorders, but with overlapping histological features. Recently, we experienced three cases of Castleman's disease. One case was a mixed variant, which presented as a right perirenal mass in a 23-year-old woman. The lesion was detected incidentally on computerized tomography (CT) and successfully resected. The remaining two cases were multicentric, plasma cell variants of Castleman's disease, which presented as an inguinal mass in a 29-year-old male, and as a multiple neck lymphadenopathy in a 63-year-old male, respectively. Although Castleman's disease in the perirenal retroperitoneum is extremely rare, accounting for only 2% of all reported cases, it should be included in the differential diagnosis of the mostly malignant retroperitoneal masses. We suggested that radical surgery may be avoided, given the excellent outcome after a limited excision in solitary retroperitoneal Castleman's disease.