Androulaki A, Drakos E, Hatzianastassiou D, Vgenopoulou S, Gazouli M, Korkolopoulou P, Patsouris E, Dosios T
Department of Pathology, Laiko General Hospital, Medical School, University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
Histopathology. 2004 Jan;44(1):69-76. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2559.2004.01737.x.
To report a case of pyothorax-associated lymphoma in a non-immunocompromised 78-year-old man with a 45-year history of tuberculous pleuritis and left pleural effusion. Pyothorax-associated lymphoma is a high-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma occurring in 2% of patients with long-standing tuberculous pleuritis and pyothorax. Pyothorax-associated lymphoma is frequently Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated, mainly reported in Japan but exceedingly rare in western countries.
Histology revealed a high-grade, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma with immunoblastic and plasmacytoid features and marked angiocentricity with focal destruction of the vessel walls. Immunohistochemistry revealed a post germinal B-cell phenotype. RNA in-situ hybridization and molecular analysis showed a latent EBV infection and absence of human herpes virus-8 (HHV-8).
Pyothorax-associated lymphoma represents a rare but distinctive type of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, with characteristic clinico-epidemiological, immunohistological, and biological features.
