Histiocytosis

Disease	Injury	Nutrition	Poison

Special Topic	Surgery	Symptoms	Test

Eosinophilic granuloma - X-ray of the skull

Histiocytosis

Alternative Names:

Eosinophilic granuloma; Pulmonary histiocytosis X; Nonlipid reticuloendotheliosis; Pulmonary langerhans cell granulomatosis; Hand-Schuller-Christian disease; Letterer-Siwe disease; Langerhans cell histiocytosis

Symptoms:

The symptoms that affect children and adults are listed below, although there can be some overlap.

Adult:

Cough
Shortness of breath
Chest pain
Fever
Weight loss
General discomfort, uneasiness, or ill feeling (malaise)
Increased amount of urine output
Thirst/drinking a lot
Bone pain
Rash

Children:

Failure to thrive
Weight loss
Irritability
Fever
Seborrheic dermatitis of the scalp
Abdominal pain
Jaundice
Vomiting
Limping
Thirst/frequent urine
Short stature
Delayed puberty
Mental deterioration
Headache
Dizziness
Seizures
Increased eyeball protrusion
Swollen lymph glands
Generalized rash (petechiae or purpura)
Chronically draining ears
Bone pain may or may not be present

Signs and tests:

Adult:

Chest X-ray
Bronchoscopy with biopsy showing typical X bodies in histiocytes
Pulmonary function tests

Children:

Bone X-ray showing punched-out appearance of bone lesions
Skeletal survey X-ray (X-rays of the entire skeleton) to determine the degree of bone involvement
Biopsy of bone to check for the presence of Langerhans cells
Biopsy of skin to check for the presence of Langerhans cells
Bone marrow biopsy
CBC
Other tests as clinical symptoms direct

Review Date: 2/10/2003
Reviewed By: Ezra E. W. Cohen, M.D., Department of Medicine, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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