Spontaneous extradural hemorrhage due to Langerhans cell histiocytosis of the skull in a child: A rare presentation

Pediatric Eosinophilic Granuloma Associated With Delayed Epidural Hematoma Following on Seizure: A Case Report

Eosinophilic granuloma (EG), a subtype of Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH), the monostotic form, is a rare condition characterized by a solitary bone lesion. It is even more unusual for this condition to be accompanied by an epidural hematoma (EDH). This case is unique in that it is the first to involve delayed EDH following a seizure. We describe a remarkable example of EG accompanied by an EDH and consider the rarity of this comorbidity. A 32-month-old boy developed a rapidly growing skull mass following a minor head injury. During surgical preparation for a biopsy, the patient experienced a single convulsion. Imaging following the seizure revealed an EDH in the vicinity of the mass. The mass was excised and confirmed to be an EG, but with positive margins. The patient underwent chemotherapy after systemic skeletal evaluation, in accordance with the LCH III protocol established by the Histiocytosis Society. EG is a rare neoplasm that typically presents as a painless growth on the skull that gradually enlarges over time. The correlation between EG and EDH is exceedingly uncommon, with only a few documented cases. This case study underscores the significance of considering EG in the differential diagnosis of an expanding cranium mass, even when associated with EDH. Prompt diagnosis and treatment can prevent serious complications and improve patient outcomes.

Spontaneous remission of skull Langerhans cell histiocytosis that had developed by repeated head injury: illustrative case

BACKGROUND

Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) was previously characterized as the proliferation of Langerhans-type histiocytes with a wide range of clinical presentations that arise mostly in children. The typical presentation is a gradually enlarging, painless skull mass. Rapid clinical deterioration is rare.

OBSERVATIONS

A 3-year-old boy who had incurred a right frontal impact head injury demonstrated no apparent neurological deficits. He subsequently bruised the same region multiple times. The right frontal swelling gradually increased over the course of 6 days after the initial injury. Skull radiography showed no bony lesion. The same site enlarged markedly 12 days after the initial injury. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a frontal bony tumorous lesion associated with multiple subcutaneous cystic mass lesions. The patient underwent open biopsy of the skull lesion and evacuation of the subcutaneous lesions. Histopathological examination confirmed the diagnosis of LCH. Immunohistochemical evaluation revealed positivity for CD1a and langerin and no immunopositivity for BRAF V600E. The skull lesion spontaneously disappeared 30 days after the biopsy without recurrence.

LESSONS

Physicians should be aware of this rare clinical manifestation of LCH that developed by a repeat head injury.

Eosinophilic granuloma affecting the parietal bone of the skull: A case report and literature review

BACKGROUND

The rare form and mildest variant of Langerhans cell histiocytosis is eosinophilic granuloma (EG). In the clinical presentation, EG can be monostotic, polyostotic, or can encompass many organs. The parietal bone is the most common location of the skull bones that are affected by EG. So far, there have been no reported cases of EG with skull odor as an unexplained presentation.

CASE PRESENTATION

An 8-year-old girl presented with a 4 months history of a right parietal bone swelling of the skull with an offensive odor. There was no discharge and no history of vomiting or trauma. An MRI scan of the brain showed swelling with a bone lesion of the right parietal bone. Infection was the source of the swelling and the bad odor. Treatment was done by surgical excision of the lesion.

CONCLUSION

EG has a variety of presentations and should be suspected when tenderness and local swelling are present. Radiography was found to be helpful in the diagnosis and surgical treatment was done to manage the case.

Unusual sites of bone involvement in Langerhans cell histiocytosis: a systematic review of the literature

Background

Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a rare disease that originates from the uncontrolled proliferation and accumulation of bone marrow-derived immature myeloid dendritic cells. Dendritic cells are a type of histiocyte that play an important role in the human immune system and are found in the bone, skin, stomach, eyes, intestines, and lungs.

Objective

This systematic review aimed to collect and report published case reports of rare bone disease caused by LCH to avoid misdiagnoses or delays in diagnosis.

Methods

We systematically searched Scopus, PubMed, Embase, and Web of Sciences from August 1, 2000 to December 31, 2019. Studies reporting cases of LCH with rare bone involvement were included.

Results

We identified 60 articles including 64 cases. Of the identified cases, 31 (48.4%) involved children, and 33 (51.6%) involved adults. Additionally, 46.9% (30 individuals) were from Asian countries. The mean age of the children was 7.6 ± 4.3 years and that of the adults was 36 ± 12 years. The findings indicated that unifocal bone involvements were the most prevalent form of the disease (68.7%), and, overall, the skull and chest wall were the most commonly affected bones in both adults and children. The spine and long bones were the second most commonly affected bones in children, and the spine and jaw were the second most commonly affected bones in adults. Pain and swelling were the most frequent presenting signs among the investigated cases, and loss of consciousness, myelopathy, nerve palsy, visual loss, torticollis and clicking sounds were rare signs. Osteolytic lesions were the most frequent radiologic feature (62.5%), and intracranial hemorrhage, fluid–fluid level, dura and intracranial extension and pathologic fractures were rare radiological features. Total excision, curettage and observation in the unifocal group of patients and systemic chemotherapy in the other groups (i.e., multifocal and multisystem) were the most frequent management approaches. The recovery rates of the unifocal and multifocal groups were 77.3% and 81.8%, respectively, while that of the multisystem group was 55.5%. The rates of recurrence and mortality in the multisystem group were 11% and were higher than those in the other groups.

Conclusions

LCH is a rare disease that can affect any organ in the human body. However, bone is the most commonly involved organ, and rare bone involvements may be the first or only symptom of the disease due to the rarity of such lesions; a lack of familiarity with them may result in misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis.

Eosinophilic Granuloma of the Skull Presenting as Non-Traumatic Extradural Haematoma in Children

Cranial extradural haematoma (EDH) is a neurosurgical emergency that can be caused by traumatic or non-traumatic causes with the former being more prevalent. Non-traumatic causes are variable and can include infection, vascular malformation and haematological disorders. This paper will address an extremely rare non-traumatic cause of EDH. More specifically, eosinophilic granuloma (EG), the localized form of Langerhans histiocytosis, may involve the skull and has rarely been reported to present with EDH. The case that will be presented is that of a three-year-old male patient, who presented with progressive vomiting and drowsiness, associated with left parietal swelling. CT scan of the brain showed an extradural haematoma and an osteolytic parietal lesion. He underwent emergent craniectomy, evacuation of the haematoma and dura resection as the lesion was infiltrating the dura. Histopathological examination of the dura and the bone edges showed eosinophilic granuloma (EG). The mechanism of a haemorrhage in this situation is poorly understood and the literature is extremely scarce. In conducting a thorough literature review, only 11 case reports of EG causing non-traumatic EDH were found. The details of these 11 cases will be reviewed and discussed in this paper, in addition to our illustrative case.

[Eosinophilic granuloma of the parietal bone of an adult patient with BRAF mutation]

The paper describes a case of eosinophilic granuloma of the parietal bone in a 32-year-old man. Histological examination revealed a large number of bean-shaped Langerhans cell histiocytes with lobed nuclei and nuclear grooves. The histiocytes alternated with the foci of obvious eosinophilic infiltration and with eosinophilic microabscesses. There were osteoclast-like multinucleated giant cells, bone resorption, and numerous bone rods covered with osteoblast chains. The histiocytes expressed CD1α, langerin, CD68, S100, and p53 (in 90.0% of the tumor cells). The Ki-67 proliferation index was 18.0%. A molecular genetic study identified BRAFV600E mutation (nucleotide substitution s.1799 T>A (p.V600E) in the heterozygous state). Clinical and morphological data and the results of molecular genetic studies led to the conclusion that there was eosinophilic granuloma of the right parietal bone (the unifocal form of Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH), type I, group A1, with the monoossal nature of lesion and with BRAFV600E mutation). In adults, this disease is extremely rare (2-5 cases of LCH per million people, bone loss in the fourth decade of life in 2.5% of the patients).