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Multicentric Castleman’s disease of the lungs mimicking a multifocal adenocarcinoma
  1. Ghaith Qsous1,
  2. Wael Al-Qsous2,
  3. Thomas Taylor3 and
  4. Malcolm Will1
  1. 1Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
  2. 2Department of Pathology, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, UK
  3. 3Clinical Radiology, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, Dundee, UK
  1. Correspondence to Dr Ghaith Qsous; gaithgsous{at}hotmail.com

Abstract

A female patient presented with fever of unknown origin, night sweats and weight loss. She had no pulmonary symptoms. Investigations revealed bilateral ground glass lung lesions which were subsequently followed-up with imaging. Two years later, a follow-up CT scan revealed an increase in the size of the lesions which exhibited a more solid appearance. A diagnostic biopsy was difficult to perform, and the patient underwent a left upper lobectomy for suspected primary lung malignancy. Histological examination showed lung involvement by Castleman’s disease of plasma cell type which displayed a multifocal distribution. There was no evidence of nodal involvement. Following discussion at the multidisciplinary team meeting and correlation with radiology, a diagnosis of multicentric Castleman’s disease of the lung was made. Here, we present an unusual case of multicentric Castleman’s disease of the lung mimicking primary lung carcinoma. Our case highlights the importance of considering this entity in the differential diagnosis of multifocal lung lesions with a ground glass-like appearance to allow early diagnosis and management.

  • Cardiothoracic surgery
  • Lung cancer (oncology)

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Footnotes

  • Contributors MW and GQ performed the surgery. GQ wrote the manuscript with support from MW and WA-Q. Also, WA-Q was the pathologist who reviewed the specimen. TT did the radiological comments on the case.

  • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

  • Case reports provide a valuable learning resource for the scientific community and can indicate areas of interest for future research. They should not be used in isolation to guide treatment choices or public health policy.

  • Competing interests None declared.

  • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.