Unicentric Castleman disease (UCD) is a dynamic entity with a wide spectrum of morphologic findings. UCD can be further subdivided into hyaline-vascular and mixed/plasmacytic variants. Hyaline-vascular UCD has both follicular and interfollicular (stromal) changes, and occasionally these lesions show a skewed representation of either the follicular or stromal compartments. Plasmacytosis is usually minimal in hyaline-vascular variant. Mixed/plasmacytic variant of UCD is composed of sheets of plasma cells often associated with a variable number of follicles with regressive changes.
To illustrate the differential diagnosis of UCD, as it is quite broad and includes lymphomas, plasma cell neoplasms and stromal neoplasms such as follicular dendritic cell sarcoma and vascular neoplasms, immunoglobulin G4–related disease, infections, and other rare lesions. An additional objective is to enhance awareness of the morphologic features of UCD in excisional and in small core-needle biopsy specimens, the latter of which may inadvertently target follicle- or stroma-rich areas, causing diagnostic challenges.
In this review, we provide the readership a concise illustration of the morphologic spectrum of UCD that we have encountered in our practice and a brief discussion of entities in the differential diagnosis.
UCD exhibits a broad spectrum of morphologic changes, and awareness of these morphologic variations is key to avoid misdiagnosis.
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The authors have no relevant financial interest in the products or companies described in this article.
