Orbital and adnexal lymphomas. A multiparameter approach.

The application of immunologic, cytochemical, and electron-microscopic technics to the study of lymphoid lesions of the orbit and adnexa was found to enhance the accuracy of diagnoses of malignant lymphoma in five challenging referral cases. Although careful specimen collection, ideal fixation, and processing constitute the cornerstone of the morphologic diagnosis of nodal and extranodal lymphomas, the immunologic characterization of these lymphoproliferative disorders is emphasized as an especially useful diagnostic parameter. The occurrence of false-negative diagnoses of pseudolymphoma of the orbital region may be partially explained by a failure to recognize the relatively frequent plasma-cytoid lymphocytic lymphoma, a distinctive entity that may mimic a reactive inflammatory process. All of the cases of malignant lymphoma reported represented stage I or stage II disease, suggesting that primary lymphoma of the orbital region may be a disease with a favorable prognosis.