CASTLEMANS DISEASE - DESCRIPTION AND COMM ENTS ON 3 CASES

Three representative cases of the clinical heterogeneity of Castleman' s diseasee are presented: one localized form with hialine vascular his tology (HV) and 2 multicentric forms corresponding to the plasmocellul ar variety (PC). The asymptomatic patient with HV was treated with sur gical resection of one tumor. The 2 patients with the symptomatic PC v ariant were characterized by the different clinical presentation recei ving polychemotherapy and steroids, respectively with good response. T he literature is reviewed and the pathogenetic, clinical and therapeut ic aspects of the disease, which remains difficult to define as a sole entity, are discussed.