A case report of Rosai-Dorfman disease with kidney involvement

Rosai-Dorfman disease (RDD) is a rare histiocytic disorder of unclear etiology, which commonly presented with the enlargement of lymph nodes of the neck and the head. Here, we report an unusual case of 77-year-old male patient presenting with left kidney lesion with several small enlarged lymph nodes around the abdominal aorta. The diagnosis of left kidney cancer was suspected and the patient underwent left laparoscopic exploration and lymph node biopsy. Only saponification of the renal surrounding fat and enlargement of the left renal pedicle and 5 abdominal aortic lymph nodes were found; no kidney cancer was found. Surrenalectomy and lymphadenectomy dissection were then performed and the left kidney was retained. Intraoperative frozen and postoperative pathology indicates Rosai-Dorfman disease. RDD with kidney involvement is uncommon, and its x-ray imaging appearances are atypical, and often resemble kidney cancer leading to kidney loss. A systematic literature review was also performed to investigate the x-ray imaging and treatment features of this disease.