ABSTRACT
AIMS: To report 16 cases of sclerosing angiomatoid nodular transformation (SANT) of the splenic red pulp. METHODS AND RESULTS: Patients were selected in two phases. An initial group of seven patients was diagnosed with SANT based on the presence of angiomatoid nodules. Sheets of inflammatory fibrosis were found in three patients, resembling inflammatory pseudotumour (IPT); nine further cases of IPT were reviewed. Angiomatoid nodules were detected, leading to the diagnosis of SANT in all cases. The splenic mass (10-150 mm in diameter) was polycyclic, composed of multiple small nodules of loose connective tissue comprising myofibroblasts and a dense network of capillaries as well as some remnants of sinuses. Collagenous fibrosis surrounded them. Bands or large sheets of fibrosis, infiltrated by various inflammatory cells, particularly polytypic plasmacytes, resembling IPT, were present in 10 cases. CONCLUSIONS: SANT of the red pulp is a distinct benign pseudotumorous lesion of the spleen characterized by the presence of angiomatoid nodules. We observed such angiomatoid nodules in all our cases of splenic IPT, which were not follicular dendritic cell or myofibroblastic tumours. We therefore recommend careful examination for angiomatoid nodules in all suspected cases of splenic IPT.
Subject(s)
Granuloma, Plasma Cell/pathology , Histiocytoma, Benign Fibrous/pathology , Spleen/pathology , Splenic Neoplasms/pathology , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Angiomatosis/metabolism , Angiomatosis/pathology , Female , Humans , Immunohistochemistry , Male , Middle Aged , Young AdultABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Amyloidosis is often difficult to diagnose and cardiac involvement worsens the prognosis. CLINICAL CASE: We report the case of a 72-year old man consulting for cardiac failure with pleural effusion. A restrictive cardiomyopathy was discovered by echocardiography, and amyloidosis was then suspected. First histological localization was pleural. Cardiac involvement was confirmed. The diagnosis was supported by digestive and cutaneous localizations. It was an AL amyloidosis. Treatment with melphalan and dexamethasone allowed stabilization during more than six months. DISCUSSION: This is an original case report, because of the first clinical signs (cardiac failure), the histological proof (pleural histology). Echocardiography is particularly helpful in internal medicine.