BACKGROUND: Castleman’s disease, or angiofollicular lymphoid hyperplasia, is a rare disorder and can be easily misdiagnosed as lymphoma, neoplasm, or infection. The diagnosis is challenging due to the nonspecific signs and symptoms as well as the rarity of the disease. We present an unusual case of a young girl presenting with an enlarging pulmonary mass that was believed to be infectious in origin.

CASE REPORT: A 16-year-old Native American female from Arizona initially presented with occasional non-productive cough and chest pain. Imaging revealed a 3-cm left upper lobe lobulated mass. This mass was thought to be due to coccidioidomycosis and was treated with fluconazole. Follow-up imaging demonstrated growth of the mass to 4.8 cm. The patient underwent a left video-assisted thoracoscopic left upper lobectomy and mediastinal lymphadenectomy. Histopathological examination revealed Castleman’s disease.

CONCLUSIONS: Pulmonary masses in young patients can be easily misdiagnosed as infections or cancer. We present the case of a 16-year-old female misdiagnosed as having a fungal infection of the lung, which was later revealed to be Castleman’s disease of the left upper lobe.

Keywords: Diagnosis, Differential, Biopsy, Adolescent, Giant Lymph Node Hyperplasia - diagnosis, Lung Diseases - diagnosis, Lymph Nodes - pathology, Tomography, X-Ray Computed