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Langerhans cell histiocytosis

Evidence last reviewed: 2 Apr 2026
Topic last updated: 04 Dec 2025

Summary

Definição

História e exame físico

Principais fatores diagnósticos

  • age <15 years
  • bone pain and/or swelling
  • skin rash
  • polyuria and polydipsia
  • growth or sexual maturation failure
  • vertebra plana
  • hepatosplenomegaly
Detalhes completos

Outros fatores diagnósticos

  • cough, dyspnea
  • chest pain
  • orbital abnormalities
  • jaundice
  • ascites
  • cytopenias
  • fever
  • anorexia
  • weight loss
  • irritability
  • ear pain
  • ear discharge
  • hearing loss
  • perforated tympanic membrane
  • headache
  • neurologic signs
  • bloody diarrhea
  • oral mucosa lesions
  • lymphadenopathy
  • thyroid enlargement
Detalhes completos

Fatores de risco

  • smoking
  • family history of thyroid disease
  • perinatal infections
Detalhes completos

Investigações diagnósticas

Primeiras investigações a serem solicitadas

  • CBC
  • LFTs
  • serum albumin
  • renal function
  • serum electrolytes
  • serum calcium
  • inflammatory markers
  • endocrine evaluation (adults)
  • BRAF V600E mutation analysis
  • skeletal survey (children)
  • chest x-ray (children)
  • abdominal ultrasound (children)
  • fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) (adults)
  • MRI head with contrast (adults)
  • tissue biopsy
Detalhes completos

Investigações a serem consideradas

  • endocrine evaluation (children)
  • coagulation studies (children)
  • pulmonary function tests
  • echocardiogram
  • high-resolution CT chest
  • audiometry
  • bone marrow aspirate and biopsy
  • MRI head with contrast (children)
  • MRI spine
  • CT head
Detalhes completos

Algoritmo de tratamento

AGUDA

single-system disease: bone involvement

single-system disease: skin involvement

single-system disease: isolated lymph node involvement

single-system disease: lung involvement

single-system disease: CNS involvement

single-system disease: neurodegenerative disease

multisystem disease

CONTÍNUA

relapsed/refractory disease

Colaboradores

Autores

Gaurav Goyal, MD

Assistant Professor of Medicine

University of Alabama at Birmingham

Department of Medicine

Division of Hematology/Oncology

Birmingham

AL

Declarações

GG has been reimbursed for advisory board by Opna Bio LLC, and receives royalties from UpToDate.

Agradecimentos

Dr Gaurav Goyal would like to gratefully acknowledge Dr Oussama Abla and Professor Kimo Stine, previous contributors to this topic.

Declarações

OA declares that he has no competing interests. KS declares that he serves on the Board of the Histiocytosis Association (a nonprofit organization), has provided advice for a legal firm reviewing a case of LCH, and receives honoraria for membership of advisory boards to Pfizer and Behring.

Revisores

R. Maarten Egeler, MD, PhD

Director of Pediatric Immunology, Hematology, Oncology, Bone Marrow Transplantation, and Autoimmune Diseases

Leiden University Medical Center

Leiden

The Netherlands

Declarações

RME has previously worked with Dr Abla on a review of LCH. RME is an author of several references cited in this topic.

Rima Jubran, MD, MPH

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics

Keck School of Medicine

University of Southern California

Children's Hospital Los Angeles

Los Angeles

CA

Disclosures

RJ declares that she has no competing interests.

Peer reviewer acknowledgements

BMJ Best Practice topics are updated on a rolling basis in line with developments in evidence and guidance. The peer reviewers listed here have reviewed the content at least once during the history of the topic.

Disclosures

Peer reviewer affiliations and disclosures pertain to the time of the review.

References

Our in-house evidence and editorial teams collaborate with international expert contributors and peer reviewers to ensure that we provide access to the most clinically relevant information possible.

Key articles

Haupt R, Minkov M, Astigarraga I, et al; Euro Histio Network. Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH): guidelines for diagnosis, clinical work-up, and treatment for patients till the age of 18 years. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2013 Feb;60(2):175-84.Full text  Abstract

Goyal G, Tazi A, Go RS, et al. International expert consensus recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of Langerhans cell histiocytosis in adults. Blood. 2022 Apr 28;139(17):2601-21.Full text  Abstract

Rodriguez-Galindo C, Allen CE. Langerhans cell histiocytosis. Blood. 2020 Apr 16;135(16):1319-31.Full text  Abstract

National Comprehensive Cancer Network. NCCN clinical practice guidelines in oncology: histiocytic neoplasms [internet publication].Full text

Reference articles

A full list of sources referenced in this topic is available to users with access to all of BMJ Best Practice.
  • Langerhans cell histiocytosis images
  • Differentials

    • Seborrheic dermatitis
    • Juvenile xanthogranuloma (JXG)
    • Rosai-Dorfman disease (RDD)
    More Differentials
  • Guidelines

    • Clinical practice guidelines in oncology: histiocytic neoplasms
    • International expert consensus recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of Langerhans cell histiocytosis in adults
    More Guidelines
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