Pathologic quiz case. Large posterior mediastinal mass in a young woman. Pathologic diagnosis: localized hyaline-vascular-type Castleman disease (angiofollicular lymphoid hyperplasia)

Cervical Castleman’s disease mimicking lymph node metastasis of esophageal carcinoma

Castleman’s disease (CD) is an uncommon benign lymphoproliferative disorder of unknown etiology. A rare case of cervical CD diagnosed at lymph node dissection for esophageal carcinoma is reported. An esophageal tumor was identified in a 67-year-old man during a follow-up examination after surgery for oral carcinoma. Esophagoscopy revealed a type 1 tumor in the cervical esophagus. Histology of esophagoscopic biopsies indicated squamous cell carcinoma. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography revealed swollen lymph nodes of the right cervical region. No distant metastasis was detected. Esophageal carcinoma, T2N2M0, Stage IIIA was diagnosed. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy was recommended, but the patient rejected the chemotherapy. The patient underwent laparoscopic-assisted transhiatal esophagectomy. The histopathological diagnosis was moderately differentiated squamous cell carcinoma with pT1bN0M0, Stage IA. On histology, the swollen lymph nodes of the right cervical region revealed CD. The patient’s postoperative course was relatively good.