A case report of retroperitoneal pararenal Castleman's disease associated with myasthenia gravis

Castleman's disease (CD) is a relatively rare disorder characterized by the benign proliferation of lymphoid tissue. The combination of an occurrence of retroperitoneal pararenal CD with myasthenia gravis (MG) is extremely rare.

The patient was admitted to our hospital for investigation of a retroperitoneal pararenal tumor which had been coincidentally diagnosed at a local hospital where he was admitted because of MG. The patient subsequently underwent an exploratory laparotomy and suffered from postoperative myasthenic crisis. Pathological examination revealed a left retroperitoneal mass of CD (hyaline vascular type). There was no recurrence of disease found after 7 months.

CD with MG is a rare condition. Postoperative myasthenic crisis is a severe complication. The possibility of its occurrence must be in physicians' minds and the risk of postoperative myasthenic crisis must be carefully considered when evaluating MG patients undergoing surgery.