AUTOIMMUNE FINDINGS RESEMBLING CONNECTIVE-TISSUE DISEASE IN A PATIENTWITH CASTLEMANS-DISEASE

Multicentric angiofollicular lymphnode hyperplasia (multicentric Castl eman's disease) may be associated with acute phase reaction and severa l autoimmune features. Since lymphadenopathy is a common feature in co nnective tissue disease, a clear distinction between the different dis ease entities may be difficult. We describe a 26-year-old male patient with predominant cervical lymphadenopathy, hepatosplenomegaly and pol yserositis, diagnosed as collagen disease. He showed several autoimmun e features including autoimmune haemolytic anaemia, cryoglobulinaemia, positive antinuclear and anti smooth muscle antibodies, serum immune complexes and a sensorimotor polyneuropathy. Under immunosuppressive t herapy with prednisolone and azathioprine, only partial remission was achieved, Repeated lymph node biopsy together with the clinical featur es led to the diagnosis of multicentric Castleman's disease in this pa tient nine years later. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) seems to play an importan t role in the pathogenesis of clinical and serum biochemical features in patients with Castleman's disease.