Castleman's Disease: A Case Report of the Unicentric Type

• Main Authors: J. Gomez-Ramirez, M. Posada, L. Sanchez-Urdazpal, E. Martin-Perez, L. Del Campo, I. Garcia, J. L. Martin, E. Larrañaga
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hindawi Limited 2012-01-01
• Series: Case Reports in Surgery
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/175272

Castleman's disease, or angiofollicular lymph node hyperplasia, is a relatively rare disorder characterized by the benign proliferation of lymphoid tissue related to the chronic human herpes virus 8 (HHV-8) infection and the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Two clinical entities have been described: a unicentric presentation with the disease confined to a single anatomic lymph node and a multicentric presentation characterized by generalized lymphadenopathy and a more aggressive clinical course. Also, three histopathological subtypes have been described: hyaline-vascular, plasma cell, and a mixed variant. Preoperative diagnosis of hyaline-vascular Castleman's disease is difficult, and the definitive result is based on postoperative pathological findings. The gold standard therapy is the complete surgical excision.