Primary central nervous system T-cell lymphoma: a case report / 中华神经科杂志

ABSTRACT

Primary central nervous system T-cell lymphomas (PCNSTL) are rare, the clinical symptoms and radiographic imaging of which are unspecific, and the pathological morphology is antypical, leading to misdiagnosis and delays in treatment. A 45-year-old male patient with diplopia accompanied by numbness and dysarthria was reported in this paper, which was considered as "lymphoma or lymphoproliferative lesions" on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) while no typical tumor cells in brain biopsy. The clinical symptoms worsened one month later and the reexamined MRI showed that the scope of the lesion was enlarged and the enhancement was more obvious than before, which was still considered as lymphoma or lymphoproliferative lesion. The second biopsy was performed and still no typical tumor lymphocytes were seen. Finally, gene rearrangement was carried out and showed the β and γ chains both present positive mutations in T cell receptor (TCR) gene rearrangement. Combined with cell morphology, immunophenotype and TCR gene rearrangement results, the patient was finally diagnosed as PCNSTL. This article reviewed the clinical symptoms, imaging features, laboratory examinations, pathological characteristics, diagnosis and differential diagnosis of PCNSTL, so as to improve the understanding of this rare disease.