Castleman disease in pregnancy

Abstract

Background: Castleman disease, a rare disorder characterized by benign proliferation of lymphoid tissues, generally presents as a solitary mediastinal mass. We report the first case of this disease during pregnancy.

Case: A 32-year-old woman presented with a large abdominal mass and vaginal bleeding during the second trimester of pregnancy. Abdominal ultrasound demonstrated a large, retroperitoneal solid mass of mixed echogenicity and increased vascularity. The patient underwent explorative laparotomy that revealed a mesenteric mass, histologically consistent with Castleman disease of the hyaline-vascular type. The mass was excised completely, and the immediate postoperative course was uneventful, although the patient went into spontaneous preterm labor during the 29th week of pregnancy.

Conclusion: Castleman disease should be considered one of the benign etiologies for an abdominal or retroperitoneal mass during pregnancy.