Atypical systemic lupus erythematosus or Castleman's disease.

Abstract

Collagen vascular diseases and malignancies have common systemic and immune features. We report a case of a 21 year old female patient with constitutional symptoms, polyserositis, spontaneous rupture of the spleen, leukocytoclastic vasculitis and acute renal failure. The tentative diagnosis of SLE was made because she developed a positive antinuclear factor (1/640), with anti-SSA antibodies and a positive lupus anticoagulans. Two months later a cervical lymphadenopathy occurred while recieving treatment with prednisolone. A lymph node biopsy revealed morphologic features of a SLE, similar to those observed in multicentric Castleman's disease (MCD). MCD is a distinct type of a lymphoproliferative disorder of unknown etiology. The difficulties in differential diagnosis of these two diseases are discussed.

• Authors: K Van de Voorde, H De Raeve, C E De Block, N Van Regenmortel, J F Van Offel, L S De Clerck, W J Stevens
• Journal: Acta clinica Belgica (Acta Clin Belg) 2004 May-Jun Vol. 59 Issue 3 Pg. 161-4 ISSN: 1784-3286 [Print] England
• PMID: 15462513 (Publication Type: Case Reports, Journal Article)

Topics

• Adult
• Biopsy
• Castleman Disease (complications, diagnosis, pathology)
• Diagnosis, Differential
• Fatal Outcome
• Female
• Humans
• Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic (complications, diagnosis, pathology)
• Lymph Nodes (pathology)
• Serositis (etiology)