Isolated intrapulmonary Castleman's disease: a case report, review of the literature

Castleman's disease (CD), also known as angiofollicular lymph node hyperplasia, is an uncommon, lymphoproliferative disorder of unknown etiology, mostly involving the mediastinum. Parenchymal lung involvement of the disease is extremely rare. Intrapulmonary CD has been reported in seven cases in the English literature. We describe an asymptomatic 28-year-old woman with lesion in the chest X-ray. Computed tomography (CT) of the chest confirmed a 5.5 × 5 cm well-defined, lobulated mass in the hilum of the right upper lobe. She underwent surgical resection for diagnosis and treatment. Pathologic examination showed hyaline vascular type (Castleman's disease) lymph node hyperplasia. CD rarely arises from the intrapulmonary lymph nodes. In these patients, preoperative diagnosis is difficult and invasive attempts may be required.