A case of osteoarthropathy due to Erdheim-Chester disease with overlapping Langerhans' cell infiltration

Intern Med. 2010;49(12):1225-8. doi: 10.2169/internalmedicine.49.3328. Epub 2010 Jun 15.

Abstract

Histiocytosis sometimes involves the joints, and is one of the important differential diagnoses of osteoarthropathy. A 31-year-old man presented with recurrent fever and bilateral knee arthritis two years prior to admission. He also showed the hypopituitary mass lesion and partial hypopituitarism. X-ray studies showed both osteosclerotic and osteolytic lesions near the large joints. Histological findings of bone biopsy revealed foamy macrophage infiltration, which were CD68+CD1a-S100-, and Erdheim-Chester disease was diagnosed. In addition, CD68+CD1a+ Langerhans' cells also aggregated in the same lesions, and we thought this case was a rare variant of Erdheim-Chester disease with overlapping histiocytic invasion.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Erdheim-Chester Disease / complications
  • Erdheim-Chester Disease / diagnosis*
  • Histiocytosis, Langerhans-Cell / complications
  • Histiocytosis, Langerhans-Cell / diagnosis*
  • Humans
  • Langerhans Cells / pathology
  • Male
  • Osteoarthropathy, Secondary Hypertrophic / complications
  • Osteoarthropathy, Secondary Hypertrophic / diagnosis*