retroperitoneal castleman disease: report of a case and review of the literature

abstract castleman disease or giant node hyperplasia is a rare disorder of the lymphoid tissue most often involving the mediastinal lymph nodes. we report a case of localized retroperitoneal hyaline-vascular type of castleman disease. a 35-year old woman presented with mild epigastric pain with radiation to the back. amild anemia was the only abnormal associated finding. abdominal ultrasound and ct- scan showed a homogeneous well-demarcated mass beneath the pancreas. excisional biopsy on laparotomy revealed a highly vascular encapsulated mass with a diameter of 6 centimeters. histopathology examination was diagnostic: hyaline-vascular hype castleman disease. castleman disease, although rare, is one of the differential diagnoses of a retroperitoneal mass, most often discovered incidentally or due to pain and compressive symptoms. excision is both diagnostic and curative for management of the localized form of castleman disease.