[An unknown cause of deep lymphadenopathies: polyethylene histiocytosis related to a joint prosthesis]

A case of deep seated lomboaortic lymph node enlargement, due to a storage hitiocytosis by fragments of polyethylene, draining the site of hip joint prosthesis is reported. These lymph node enlargement, made visible by tomodensitometry, were satellites of an ovarian adenocarcinoma. The artificial hip joint operation had taken place 17 years before and 10 years later the patient underwent a secondary operation to replace the prosthesis of the right hip. To the knowledge of the authors this is the first recorded case of lymph node enlargement due to a storage histiocytosis in response to debris shed from hip prosthesis being made visible by way of a radiological examination.