Clinical analysis of a case of central nervous system intravascular lymphoma with multiple intracerebral microbleeds and literature review / 中华神经科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate the clinicopathological features and imaging differential diagnosis of intravascular large B-cell lymphoma (IVLBCL) in the central nervous system (CNS).Methods:A case of CNS IVLBCL with multiple intracerebral microbleeds (CMBs) diagnosed in the Department of Neurology, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University in 2017 was reported. The clinical and imaging data, histological and immunohistochemical markers were retrospectively analyzed, and the relevant literature was reviewed.Results:The patient was a 31-year-old woman presented with headache and seizures. Cranial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed multifocal lesions involving mainly the cortical and subcortical white matter (bilateral cerebral hemisphere and right cerebellar hemisphere), hyperintense signal on T 2-weighted and fluid-attenuated inversion recovery images, with hypointense signal on T 1-weigthed and diffusion-weighted images and contrast enhancement in some lesions. The susceptibility weighted imaging revealed multifocal cortical or subcortical hypointense lesions, involving mainly the subcortical white matter. Brain magnetic resonance angiography was normal. Brain magnetic resonance venography showed left side transverse sinus was hypoplastic. Cranial magnetic resonance spectroscopy showed decreased N-acetylaspartylglutamate peak, elevated choline peak and inverted lipid double peak. Her symptoms and the lesions once improved after starting steroid treatment. However, CNS recurrence occurred after 1 week of steroid withdrawal. She underwent the biopsy of the right frontotemporal lobe. The pathological examination showed multiple microscopic hemorrhages and edema scattered in the brain tissue. A large number of heterologous mononuclear cells were aggregated in small blood vessels in the parenchyma and meninges. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that the tumor was negative for Epstein-Barr virus encoded small RNAs, CD 3, CD 10, cytokeratin and CD 138, and positive for CD 20, CD 79α, B-cell lymphoma (BCL)-2, BCL-6, myelocytomatosis oncogene (C-myc) and multiple myeloma oncogene-1 (MUM-1). The Ki67 proliferation index was about 70%. The diagnosis of IVLBCL was confirmed. Conclusions:IVLBCL in CNS is a rare and swiftly progressive disease with poor prognosis. Its clinical symptoms and imaging are nonspecific. Early diagnosis and treatment is critical. Biopsy is the gold standard for diagnosis. Random skin biopsy may be helpful for the early diagnosis. Furthermore, regarding the cause of multiple CMBs, the possibility of IVLBCL should be considered in the differential diagnosis, in addition to the common causes, such as primary angiitis of the CNS and cerebral amyloid angiopathy.