Abstract

This report describes the pathologic features of 17 cases of Castleman's disease, examined at the Department of Pathology, Seoul National University Hospital during a period from 1973 to 1989. The lesions in 12 cases were hyaline-vascular type and the remainders plasma cell type. The pathologic features favoring the plasma cell type over the hyaline vascular type included a sufficient number to large-sized follicles. However, a histologic overlapping between two types was present. In the hyaline vascular type the age of the patients ranged from 7 to 76 years and they appeared to be no particular sex predominence. The majority of the lesions occurred in the neck and within the chest. Almost all cases presented with a solitary mass except three cases. Neither conventional symptoms nor systemic manifestations were associated. The plasma cell type was characterized by presentation of constitutional symptoms, involvement of intra abdominal and inguinal lymphnodes, in association with unusual clinicopathologic features including IgA nephropathy, diabetes mellitus, systemic progressive sclerosis, peripheral neuropathy, and anemia. Immunohistochemical study was performed in three cases of the plasma cell type. Two cases revealed poly-clonal plasma cell infiltration. In a patient with IgA nephropathy, however, serum IgA was increase and a strong immunoreactivity to IgA heavy chain was found. Another case, associated with systemic progressive sclerosis and neuropathy, revealed monoclonal plasma cell infiltration (IgG and lambda light chain). The above results support a possibility that in some of the plasma cell type an altered immune mechanism is involved in its pathogenesis.

• Keywords: Giant lymphnode hyperplasia;Hyaline-vescular type;Plasma cell type;Immunohistochemistry;