[Pulmonary malignant lymphoma associated with bilateral diffuse linear, reticular, and consolidated shadows].

A 72-year-old asymptomatic man was admitted to our hospital with abnormal chest radiographic findings: bilateral diffuse linear, reticular, and consolidated shadows. Malignant lymphoma (diffuse small-cell B-cell lymphoma) was diagnosed histologically after an open lung biopsy and was confirmed by a genetic examination. The lymphoma cells had infiltrated widely in various regions of the lung, including the alveolar spaces and walls, the bronchial and vascular spaces, and the pleura. This diffusion of the lymphoma cells might have accounted for the chest X-ray findings. Malignant pulmonary lymphoma should be included in the differential diagnosis patients with diffuse linear, reticular, and consolidated shadows on chest X-ray films.