Rosai-Dorfman disease and the heart

Rosai-Dorfman disease (RDD) is a non-malignant pathology of histiocyte proliferation. The classical clinical presentation is with painless cervical lymphadenopathy, but extranodal involvement is frequent, occurring in approximately 40% of cases. The literature was systematically reviewed to identify reported cases of RDD with cardiac involvement. Eighteen cases were identified (3 pediatric and 15 adult). In adult cardiac RDD (cRDD), three patterns of disease were noted: an intra-cardiac mass, epicardial involvement, and pulmonary artery involvement. Reported cases suggest that surgical excision of intra-cardiac masses confers a good prognosis.