A histiocytic medullary reticulosis-like syndrome as the terminal event in lymphocytic lymphoma.

Histiocytic medullary reticulosis is a rare disease of the reticuloendothelial system. The diagnosis of this disorder has generally been established by postmortem examination following a rapidly fatal clinical course characterized by fever and pancytopenia. Originally described as a de novo disease of unknown etiology, a histiocytic medullary reticulosis-like syndrome has been more recently found in association with a number of other disorders, the majority being lymphoreticular neoplasms. This report describes a patient with a 9-year history of lymphocytic lymphoma which terminated in a rapidly fatal disease which, clinically and pathologically, was consistent with a diagnosis of histiocytic medullary reticulosis.