Gorham–Stout disease started with recurrent bilateral exudative pleuritis: case description and literature review

Abstract

Gorham–Stout disease is an extremely rare skeletal disorder of unknown etiology manifested by multiple foci of osteolysis (“vanishing bone disease”) and lymphangiomatosis. Osteolysis can occur in any part of the skeleton (skull, facial skeleton, ribs, clavicula, spine, pelvic bones, bones of the upper and lower extremities). Approximately half of the patients develop pleural effusion, accompanied by respiratory abnormalities. We describe a case of Gorham-Stout disease with recurrent bilateral exudative pleuritis as a first and most prominent sign, while the bone lesions at the vertebral bodies, ribs and sternum proceeded without active complaints and were an accidental finding during chest computer tomography. Timely diagnosis of the disease depends on the awareness of doctors of various specialties and careful reading of imaging results.