Jung Geena, Lisi Christopher V, Sivarajah Shanmugappiriya, Bardarov Svetoslav, Zafar Wahib
College of Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, USA.
Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Richmond University Medical Center, Staten Island, USA.
Cureus. 2025 Feb 27;17(2):e79770. doi: 10.7759/cureus.79770. eCollection 2025 Feb.
Follicular lymphoma is a common form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Extranodal involvement, especially in soft tissue, is rare. Here, we present a case of a 68-year-old female patient who presented with a recurrent swollen cheek, which was initially misdiagnosed as seasonal allergies. Imaging revealed a soft tissue mass, but two fine needle aspiration (FNA) biopsies were negative for malignancy. Clinical suspicion remained high and surgical excision was performed, revealing lymphoid proliferation consistent with follicular large B-cell lymphoma. Our case underscores the diagnostic challenges of soft tissue lymphomas and limitations of FNAs in ruling out malignancy. Furthermore, it highlights the necessity of maintaining clinical suspicion for lymphoma in cases of unresponsive facial masses.
滤泡性淋巴瘤是非霍奇金淋巴瘤的一种常见形式。结外受累，尤其是在软组织中受累较为罕见。在此，我们报告一例68岁女性患者，该患者反复出现脸颊肿胀，最初被误诊为季节性过敏。影像学检查发现一个软组织肿块，但两次细针穿刺抽吸（FNA）活检结果均为恶性阴性。临床怀疑度仍然很高，遂进行了手术切除，结果显示为符合滤泡性大B细胞淋巴瘤的淋巴样增生。我们的病例强调了软组织淋巴瘤的诊断挑战以及FNA在排除恶性肿瘤方面的局限性。此外，它还突出了对面部肿块无反应的病例中保持对淋巴瘤临床怀疑的必要性。
