1997 Volume 58 Issue 3 Pages 672-676
We report a very rare case of primary retroperitoneal Castleman's lymphoma accompanied with myastenia gravis.
A 57-year-old male was admitted to the 1st department of medicine in our hospital because of dysphagia and speech disturbance and was diagnosed as myastenia gravis. After admission a retroperitoneal tumor was found by abdominal computed tomography and echogram. He was transferred to the department for operation. Upon laparotomy a 58×48×30mm tumor, rich in blood supply, was located beside the left kidney and showed good movability. In addition a feeding artery from the abdominal aorta and a draining vein to the testicular vein were seen. He also had a hemangioma, angiolipomyoma of the right kidney and left renal cyst. The tumor was diagnosed as Castleman's lymphoma based on pathologically findings of lymphadenoid tissue with germinal centers following hyalinization and an increase of capillary vessels.
Our case is considered the forth report in the world as far as we could review. A remission of subjective achieved to some extent, but the sign were unchanged after the operation. Therefore, the relationship between Castleman's lymphoma and myastenia gravis is still obscure.
