Relationship between chronic sclerosing dacryoadenitis with high level of IgG4 and Castleman disease

Toshiyuki Oshitari¹, Jiro Yotsukura¹, Kaoru Asahagi¹, Takayuki Baba¹, Takashi Kishimoto², Shuichi Yamamoto^1
1Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, ²Department of Molecular Pathology, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba, Japan

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to present a case of chronic sclerosing dacryoadenitis with high level of IgG4 in a patient diagnosed earlier with Castleman disease. A 79-year-old man noticed a swelling of his lower left jaw that was first seen 8 years earlier. He was diagnosed with Castleman disease from the histopathological examination of a biopsy of the submandibular gland. Since then, the size of the gland had not changed, and he had no systemic inflammatory signs or symptoms. He developed diplopia a year earlier, and CT scans showed bilateral swelling of the lacrimal glands. He was referred to our hospital for further examinations. The patient underwent partial dacryoadenectomy. From the histopathological examinations, he was diagnosed with chronic sclerosing dacryoadenitis with high level of the serum IgG4. He underwent oral steroid therapy and the swollen lacrimal glands were significantly improved. The results suggest that there may be pathological links between IgG4-related dacryoadenitis and Castleman disease.

Keywords: IgG4, dacryoadenitis, Castleman disease, steroid