Contributions of computed tomography in the staging and management of malignant lymphoma.

Pretreatment staging is considered essential in the management of patients with malignant lymphoma, particularly nodular sclerosing Hodgkin disease. The results of CT examination of 33 patients with malignant lymphoma are correlated with the results of lymphangiography, nuclide images of the liver and spleen, gallium citrate57 images of lymphoid tissue, and nuclide bone images. CT is least effective in the early clinical stages of malignant lymphoma because normal or minimally enlarged nodes are difficult to detect; CT is probably reliable enough to replace lymphangiography of gallium57 imaging in patients with advanced disease.