Abundant macroscopic fat in intra-abdominal lymph nodes involved in the course of a patient with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia: presentation of imaging findings with biopsy correlation.

ABSTRACT

The presence of a small amount of macroscopic fat is not unusual in the hilar region of normal lymph nodes. However, abundant replacement of the lymph node with fat is highly unusual and may appear as metastatic lymph node disease in the course of fat-predominant liposarcomas or in the case of coeliac disease complicated by cavitating lymph node syndrome. In this case report, a patient with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma who demonstrated an increasing abundance of macroscopic fat in the diseased lymph nodes is presented. To the best of our knowledge, the imaging findings of abundant fat in lymph nodes in the course of lymphoma have not been reported before. The presence of macroscopic fat may be seen in the presence of actively involved lymph nodes in the presence of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia.