A rare presentation of Rosai-Dorfman-Destombes disease with central nervous system involvement and cutaneous wounds.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this case report is to investigate an uncommon presentation of Rosai-Dorfman-Destombes (RDD) disease, and discuss possible differential diagnoses and treatment options for this pathology. RDD is a rare disorder of histiocytes that typically presents in patients as painless cervical lymphadenopathy. However, this case involves a patient with the central nervous system (CNS) type of RDD who later developed cutaneous lesions.

METHOD: Several differential diagnoses were examined, including hidradenitis suppurativa, pilonidal cyst and pressure ulcers. It is important to be able to exclude these diagnoses based on the presentation, patient demographic and wound location.

RESULTS: Biopsies verified the presence of RDD in the patient's suprasellar hypothalamic mass and skin lesions, confirming the patient had both CNS-RDD and cutaneous-RDD in the absence of lymphadenopathy.

CONCLUSION: Recognising the unique manifestations of rare diseases such as RDD prevents delay of proper intervention and treatment.