[Ferritin in the cerebrospinal fluid as an early indicator of neuromeningeal involvement in patients with malignant lymphoma].

In order to evaluate whether cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) ferritin could be useful to determine early infiltration of central nervous system (CNS) in patients with malignant lymphoma, the ferritin concentration was measured in 30 previously untreated patients with malignant lymphoma without evidence of neurologic infiltration. Six patients showed elevation of CNS ferritin 2 to 6 months after clinical and cytologic diagnosis of CNS involvement was confirmed. Twenty-four patients with normal CSF ferritin did not show involvement of CNS 6 to 23 months after the study was done. Measurement of CNS ferritin appears to be important in the early detection of CNS involvement of malignant lymphoma and should be included in the clinical evaluation to detect patients at high-risk to develop this complication and prophylaxis could be done to avoid it.