Primary Castleman's disease in the liver: A case report and literature review

Abstract

Castleman's disease (CD) is a lymphoproliferative abnormality, also referred to as giant lymph node hyperplasia or follicular lymphoid hyperplasia. The occurrence of CD in the liver is rare. Radiological diagnosis of hepatic CD by computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) remains difficult. On imaging, hepatic CD is often expressed as a single, well-defined soft tissue lesion, with rare cystic degeneration and focal necrosis. The CD lesions appear as hypervascular with abundant cell proliferation on CT and MRI. Polymorphic calcification is commonly identified in the lesion. However, these findings are non-specific for a definitive radiological diagnosis. We herein present a case of hepatic CD and review its pathological and imaging characteristics. In particular, a strip-like area was observed extending from the nodule, which may be helpful for the diagnosis of CD in the liver.