General Medical Information

Hand-Schüller-Christian Disease

Mark C. Littlejohn
Byron J. Bailey
John K. Yoo

Hand-Schüller-Christian disease is the chronic disseminated form of histiocytosis X: Some investigators describe this process as the polyostotic form of eosinophilic granuloma. This entity occurs in children past infancy and in young adults, but it is also reported in the elderly. A classic triad, occurring in 10% of cases, consists of skull lesions, exophthalmos, and diabetes insipidus. Patients with this condition can be treated with radiation therapy, surgery, chemotherapy, or a combination, but despite treatment the mortality is about 30%.