Castleman disease of the mesentery as the great mimic: Incidental finding of one case and the literature review

Imaging spectrum of mesenteric masses

Mesenteries are extensions of the visceral and parietal peritoneum consisting of fat, vessels, nerves, and lymphatics. Mesenteric masses have a wide differential diagnosis with neoplastic, infectious, or inflammatory etiologies and can either be solid or cystic. Imaging features are critical for the diagnosis. We review the epidemiology, imaging spectrum, and differentiating features and treatment of mesenteric masses.

Mesenteric Castleman's disease mimicking neuroendocrine tumour

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Mesenteric Castleman’s disease is a rare pathology.

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It should be included in the differential for abdominal lymphadenopathy.

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Patients have an excellent prognosis after resection.

Introduction

Castleman’s disease is a rare entity and is a benign hyperplastic enlargement of lymph nodes. It can occur anywhere within the body but only approximately 50 cases of mesenteric Castleman’s disease have been reported within the literature.

Case presentation

We report a female patient who was thought to have developed a neuroendocrine tumour within the small bowel and a large nodal mass within the mesentery based on nuclear scintigraphy imaging. Following surgical resection the nodal mass found confirmed to be Castleman’s disease.

Discussion

Although rare complete resection of mesenteric Castleman’s disease offer excellent long term outcome although the diagnosis may only be made after surgery.

Conclusion

The diagnosis of mesenteric Castleman’s disease is often made post-operatively but complete surgical resection offers excellent long-term survival.

Laparoscopic treatment of abdominal unicentric castleman's disease: a case report and literature review

Background

Castleman’s disease is a rare lymphoproliferative disorder of unknown etiology that most commonly presents as a mediastinal nodal mass. It is exceptionally uncommon for Castleman’s disease to present in the mesentery and, only 53 cases have ever been described in the literature. Standard treatment for this lymphoproliferative disorder involving a single node is a complete “en bloc” surgical resection which has proven to be a curative approach in almost all cases without recurrence after 20 years of follow up. All 53 reported cases of mesenteric Castleman’s disease, except one, were treated with laparotomy.

Case presentation

We report on a case of mesenteric Castleman’s disease localized in the mesentery which is the second reported case if its kind and was treated by a laparoscopic-assisted procedure. Our female patient had an uneventful postoperative course and was discharged in the 5^th post-operative day. No signs of recurrence were present as evidenced by physical examination and total body CT scan 24 months after the operation. We compare our case with the other reported cases in which Castleman’s disease presented as an isolated mass in the abdomen.

Conclusion

Although a rare disease, Unicentric Castleman’s disease should always be considered when a solid asymptomatic abdominal mass is occasionally presented. The laparoscopic approach (LA) allows for the achievement of better results than open surgery, including a reduction in postoperative pain and length of hospital stay. In cases of masses of an uncertain nature, LA must be considered the last diagnostic tool and the first treatment one.