Review for 10.1186/s12876-021-02050-7 (2021)

Reviewer’s report
Title: 
An unusual cause of ascites: Castleman disease
Version: 
0 
Date: 
14 Jun 2021
Reviewer's report:
This article describes the case of a patient with refractory ascites, subsequently
attributed by the authors to Castleman disease (CD). It offers interesting insights,
but several considerations can be made.
- The authors wrote that the patient was evaluated in many hospitals for ascites.
What diagnoses he received in those hospitals? 
- The patient "chose" diuretic therapy to resolve ascites, however at the
beginning of the case report the ascites was defined as refractory; did the patient
undergo diuretic therapy before being evaluated by the authors? Was the ascites
under control with the therapy set by the authors?
- What radiological findings allowed the authors to rule out liver cirrhosis? 
- Did the patient undergo liver stiffness measurement? 
- It is not described whether the patient had or not metabolic syndrome; alcohol
consumption is also not described. 
- There is no mention of testing for some mimicking conditions of CD, including
infections by HIV, EBV, CMV or Toxoplasma. This is an important gap for me,
since excluding these conditions is essential to diagnose CD. Moreover, the
patient was not tested for HHV8 status.
- The cytokine panel (including IL-6) used to support diagnosis of CD was not
evaluated.
- Since this case report focuses on Castleman disease as a cause of ascites, the
absence of a description on what is known about the causes of ascites in CD is
another shortcoming.
- The image quality is not very good.
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Is the study design appropriate to answer the research question (including the use
of appropriate controls), and are the conclusions supported by the evidence
presented?
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Are the images in this manuscript (including electrophoretic gels and blots) free
from apparent manipulation?
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