Multicentric Castleman's disease in association with a solitary plasmacytoma: a case report

Multicentric Castleman's disease with aggressive systemic symptomatology is usually associated with the plasma cell variant. We report a case in which the clinical presentation was typical of multicentric Castleman's disease but which was associated with the hyaline vascular subtype histologically. Plasma cells were absent from all biopsies until, at autopsy, a solitary plasmacytoma was found in the vertebral column. This case supports the view that plasma cells are of primary importance in the clinical and pathological manifestations of multicentric Castleman's disease.