Abstract
There remains considerable controversy on the precise criteria for diagnosing IgG4-related diseases. To resolve these problems, we describe and discuss our experience of one case with a solitary mass in the parotid gland which was diagnosed as an IgG4-related disease.
A 57-year-old male patient presented with a mass in the left parotid gland. The pre-operative diagnosis by MRI and fine needle aspiration cytology was a benign tumor of the parotid gland. However, pathological examination after parotidectomy revealed infiltration of IgG4-positive plasma cells. In addition, the level of serum IgG4 was elevated to 515mg/dl. These findings meet the clinical criteria for the diagnosis of an IgG4-related disease. Multicentric Castleman’s disease, which cannot be distinguished on the basis of pathological findings or level of serum IgG4, was ruled out as there were no typical findings of the disease. Taken together, these findings suggest that this parotid gland mass was definitely an IgG4-related disease.
