CD is a rare, benign lymphoproliferative disorder of unknown etiology. The two main hypotheses for its development are an abnormal immune response and viral infection. Human herpes virus 8 and interleukin 6 are regarded to be linked to the pathogenesis [4]. Microscopically, as stated above, two histological subtypes are known: the HV type and PC type. Depending on the clinical presentation, CD can also be divided into a localized and multicentric type. About 90% of the localized type belongs to the HV subgroup, as seen in our patient, and almost all of the multicentric type is histologically the PC subtype.
CD can develop anywhere that lymphoid tissue is found, most commonly in the mediastinum (60%), but also in the abdomen, neck, lung, and retroperitoneum. Less than 4% of cases present as a lymph nodal mass in the axilla [5]. Patients with the HV type are usually asymptomatic, as our patient was, whereas patients with the PC type typically present with a broad variety of symptoms such as fever, weight loss, generalized lymphadenopathy, night sweats, and hepatosplenomegaly. As also demonstrated in our case, localized CD is normally cured after excision of the tumor with an excellent prognosis and 5-year survival of approximately 100%. On the other hand, successful treatment of the multicentric type often requires multimodal management including radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and surgery. The prognosis is generally less favorable [4].
In most cases of CD, as in our patient, US shows a hypoechoic, well-circumscribed homogeneous mass lesion [6]. In all reported cases, the longitudinal to transverse axis ratio of involved lymph nodes was more than 2 and was significantly higher in benign than in malignant lymph nodes [7]. Color Doppler findings are characteristic for the diagnosis of CD: prominent peripheral vascular proliferation in the node is not seen in healthy or reactive lymph nodes and is absent from lymph nodes affected by malignancy. Reactive lymph nodes are more likely to preserve a normal vascularity pattern with central hilar vessels, whereas lymph nodes in patients with CD show bizarre new blood vessels in the periphery due to neovascularization, as in our patient [8]. Histologically, polymorphous lymphoreticular infiltrates containing numerous capillaries are seen at the periphery of the lymph node. Malignant lymph nodes typically present a mixed vascular distribution including both central and peripheral flow.
These US and Doppler findings, although nonspecific, seem to be characteristic for the diagnosis of this uncommon disease entity and may help to differentiate this benign process from reactive lymph nodes and nodal metastases. These US findings must be proven to be efficacious, and larger studies of patients with CD are required to determine the role of US and sonoelastography in this group. Whether the distribution of nodal vascularity and Doppler flow characteristics can help to achieve a better understanding of CD must be assessed.
As in our case, CD is difficult to diagnose based on aspirate material. FNAC as the initial investigation method may be misleading because no specific cytomorphological criteria for a definitive diagnosis have been described, nor are there any cytomorphological features pathognomonic for the disorder [9].
Another technique for preoperative axillary node diagnosis is US-guided core biopsy. Although more expensive and invasive, resulting in a higher complication rate, core biopsy has the advantage of sampling the nodal tissue more extensively than using FNAC. Using core needle biopsy and excision biopsy, all cases reported in the literature were diagnosed as CD [9]. As in our patient, core needle biopsy was superior to FNAC and gave the correct definitive diagnosis.
The differential diagnoses of an axillary mass include metastases, lymphoid neoplasms such as Hodgkin’s lymphoma and non-Hodgkin lypmphoma, and a number of reactive, inflammatory, and nonmalignant conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome, tuberculosis, sarcoidosis, syphilis, and other disorders of immune regulation in patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome and Kaposi’s sarcoma. Because of its variable clinical presentation, CD should be considered as a differential diagnosis of any enlarged lymph node.