Cutaneous manifestations of Castleman disease.

BACKGROUND

Castleman disease (CD) is a lymphoproliferative B-cell disease that is diagnosed from lymphoid hyperplasia with vascular proliferation. Symptoms may include fever, night sweats, and weight loss. Cutaneous manifestations often may go unnoticed since little has been described in the literature regarding them.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A search of CD with cutaneous manifestations was performed in PUBMED, ProQuest, Ovid, Scopus, EMBASE, and Medline. All articles included patients over 18 years of age with a diagnosis of CD and cutaneous manifestations.

RESULTS

A total of 68 articles were included. The most common cutaneous manifestations include paraneoplastic pemphigus and erythematous-brown plaques, papules, or nodules. Patients presenting with these manifestations should always have a thorough physical exam, and clinicians should try to identify any palpable lymph nodes. A complete workup to rule out other neoplasias needs to be performed as well.

CONCLUSIONS

A better understanding of these skin manifestations of CD may help physicians promptly diagnose and reconsider the path of diagnostic tests to identify this entity.