Histiocytic Disorder Mimicking a Brain Tumor: A Report of 2 Rare Cases

BACKGROUND Histiocytic disorders, a group of disorders with heterogeneous pathogenesis, morphology, and clinical presentation, include Rosai-Dorfman disease, Langerhans cell histiocytosis, and Erdheim-Chester disease. They can mimic primary or metastatic tumors, both clinically and radiologically, when involving the brain. Therefore, it is crucial to present and discuss cases of histiocytic disorder involving the central nervous system (CNS) to provide new information on disease presentation and diagnosis more. In this paper, we present 2 cases of histiocytic lesions involving the brain and mimicking primary brain tumors. CASE REPORT Case 1: A 65-year-old man presented with increasing memory loss, confusion, and depression. CT scans showed an isolated 2.9×2.0×0.6 cm intracranial hypothalamic lesion. Case 2: A 61-year-old woman presented with dizziness and confusion for 3 weeks and headaches for 1 day. MRI showed a single 5.0×4.0×3.3 cm extra-axial, dural-based, avidly enhancing, well-defined lesion along the left parietal convexity causing mass effect upon the underlying brain parenchyma, left atrial effacement, and minimal vasogenic edema. CONCLUSIONS Histiocytic disorders are relatively rare in the CNS compared with other locations and mimic more common entities in the brain, such as glioma or metastatic tumors. Despite its rarity, one should remain aware of the condition and consider it in the differential diagnosis. This article provides a brief review and adds pivotal data to the literature.