Mesenteric Castleman's disease mimicking neuroendocrine tumour

Introduction: Castleman's disease is a rare entity and is a benign hyperplastic enlargement of lymph nodes. It can occur anywhere within the body but only approximately 50 cases of mesenteric Castleman's disease have been reported within the literature.

Case presentation: We report a female patient who was thought to have developed a neuroendocrine tumour within the small bowel and a large nodal mass within the mesentery based on nuclear scintigraphy imaging. Following surgical resection the nodal mass found confirmed to be Castleman's disease.

Discussion: Although rare complete resection of mesenteric Castleman's disease offer excellent long term outcome although the diagnosis may only be made after surgery.

Conclusion: The diagnosis of mesenteric Castleman's disease is often made post-operatively but complete surgical resection offers excellent long-term survival.