CASE REPORT

A case of Castleman's disease associated with diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis and ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament of the spine

Authors

Shu Kobayashi¹, Shigeki Momohara¹, Katsunori Ikari¹, Takeshi Mochizuki¹, Koichiro Kawamura¹, So Tsukahara¹, Kazumasa Nishimoto¹, Hiroshi Okamoto¹ and Taisuke Tomatsu¹

1. Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Institute of Rheumatology, Tokyo Women's Medical University, 10-22 Kawada, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-0054, Japan

Received:

04 January 2007

Accepted:

08 May 2007

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Abstract

Castleman's disease (CD), diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH), and ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament of the spine (OPLL) are three different entities. Castleman's disease displaying a variety of calcifications in the abdomen and/or pelvis has been reported in some papers. However, there were no reports suggesting an association between CD and ossification/calcification in spine and joints. So far, there has been no case report regarding the coexistence of these diseases in the literature. Herein, we detail a 75-year-old man suffering from CD who demonstrated the features of DISH with coexisting features of OPLL. The cardinal symptoms such as fatigue, high fever, and swollen glands in this case were reduced by corticosteroid therapy. However, it is possible to produce actual symptoms of ossifying/calcified diathesis of entheses and ligaments as a consequence, like the pathology of calcification found in the region of the spleen. In this paper, we describe this patient in order to discuss the association of these diseases.

Key words

Calcification - Castleman's disease - Diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH) - Ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament of the spine (OPLL)