Clinical and Histopathological Findings of Six Cases of Intravascular Large B-cell Lymphoma Diagnosed from 161 Random Skin Biopsy Cases.

OBJECTIVE

Intravascular large B-cell lymphoma is a rare type of extranodal lymphoma that has an aggressive and sometimes fatal course. Early diagnosis is necessary to improve the prognosis, but very few studies have reported random skin biopsies comparing positive and negative patients.

METHODS

A total of 161 patients with malignant lymphoma in the differential diagnosis underwent random skin biopsies. Their clinical presentations included fever, night sweats, and unintentional weight loss. Their laboratory and radiological findings were evaluated.

RESULTS

Six patients were diagnosed with intravascular large B-cell lymphoma, 12 patients were diagnosed with other malignant lymphomas, and the remainder were diagnosed with other diseases. Patients who were diagnosed with intravascular large B-cell lymphoma had a tendency to have B symptoms (p = 0.046), include senile/cherry angioma(s) at the sites of random skin biopsies (p = 0.040), and have thrombocytopenia (p = 0.009).

CONCLUSIONS

Patients with intravascular large B-cell lymphoma who have B symptoms and thrombocytopenia tend to be easily diagnosed. In cases with these manifestations, random skin biopsy is recommended, if the patients do not have hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis.