Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma presenting with isolated cauda equina compression.

A 50-year-old man, who had previously been well, presented with symptoms and signs of progressive cauda equina compression. This was shown to be due to an extradural lesion which on biopsy was found to be a non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the small cell lymphocyte type. There was no evidence of lymphoma deposits elsewhere. Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma rarely affects the central nervous system except as a late feature of widely disseminated disease. This case demonstrates that isolated spinal infiltration in the absence of widespread disease can be a mode of presentation of a non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Accordingly primary extradural non-Hodgkin's lymphoma should be considered in the differential diagnosis of spinal cord and root compression.