Retroperitoneal Castleman's disease: advocating a multidisciplinary approach for a rare clinical entity
Austin D Williams, Adriana Sanchez, Jun Steve Hou
1Division of Surgical Oncology, Department of Surgery, Drexel University College of Medicine, 254 N, 15th St,, MS 413, Philadelphia, PA 19102, USA. wilbur.bowne@drexelmed.edu.
Background:
Castleman's disease is a rare and poorly understood disease entity that may resemble more common conditions and represents a clinical challenge to the treating surgeon.
Case Presentation:
In this report, we describe a case of a 61-year-old Caucasian woman with a symptomatic retroperitoneal mass. The specimen obtained from her resection contained a protuberant encapsulated mass, exhibiting microscopic features consistent with localized, unicentric Castleman's disease. These characteristics included architectural features and immunohistochemical findings consistent with the hyaline vascular variant of Castleman's disease.
Conclusion:
We report a very rare case of a retroperitoneal hyaline vascular type of Castleman's disease. We discuss the diagnostic dilemma Castleman's disease may present to the surgeon, with an emphasis on multidisciplinary management of these patients. We also review current data on pathogenesis, treatment and outcomes.
