Clinical analysis of intra-thoracic localized Castleman disease: a report of nine cases

Abstract

Objective To investigate the clinicopathological characteristics and postoperative prognosis analysis of intra-thoracic localized Castleman disease (LCD). Methods The clinical data of 9 patients with intra-thoracic LCD who accepted surgical treatment were retrospectively analyzed.There were 5 males and 4 females, with age of (32.8 ± 10.9) years. Two patients complained of chest pain, 1 patient suffered from paraneoplastic pemphigus, and the rest were diagnosed by physical examination. Four cases were diagnosed with LCD by preoperative CT examination. Results All patients underwent surgical resection. Four patients were performed open surgery and 5 patients had video assisted thoracic surgery. All patients accepted radical surgery. But 2 of these patients had postoperative complications. One patient was the injury of phrenic nerve and another was pericardial effusion. Patho-histological showed hyaline vascular type of Catleman disease in all patients. All patients survived without recurrence during the follow-up for 2-53 months. Conclusions Intra-thoracic is rare and liable to misdiagnosed. For increasing the preoperative diagnosis rate of LCD, the combined application of imaging tests is important, and clinicians and radiologists should also enhance the awareness of this disease. Complete surgical resection of the tumor is the best therapeutic alternative for intra-thoracic LCD. Key words: Castleman disease; Surgical procedures, operative; Diagnosis