Spontaneous remission of skull Langerhans cell histiocytosis that had developed by repeated head injury: illustrative case

BACKGROUND: Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) was previously characterized as the proliferation of Langerhans-type histiocytes with a wide range of clinical presentations that arise mostly in children. The typical presentation is a gradually enlarging, painless skull mass. Rapid clinical deterioration is rare. OBSERVATIONS: A 3-year-old boy who had incurred a right frontal impact head injury demonstrated no apparent neurological deficits. He subsequently bruised the same region multiple times. The right frontal swelling gradually increased over the course of 6 days after the initial injury. Skull radiography showed no bony lesion. The same site enlarged markedly 12 days after the initial injury. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a frontal bony tumorous lesion associated with multiple subcutaneous cystic mass lesions. The patient underwent open biopsy of the skull lesion and evacuation of the subcutaneous lesions. Histopathological examination confirmed the diagnosis of LCH. Immunohistochemical evaluation revealed positivity for CD1a and langerin and no immunopositivity for BRAF V600E. The skull lesion spontaneously disappeared 30 days after the biopsy without recurrence. LESSONS: Physicians should be aware of this rare clinical manifestation of LCH that developed by a repeat head injury.