Benign nasopharyngeal lymphoid tumors, lymphoepithelial lesions, and lymphocytic interstitial pneumonitis.

A clinico-pathologic and immunologic case study of a 57-year-old woman who has shown progressive lymphoid proliferations and lymphocyte dysfunction over the course of 10 years is presented. Early in the course of her disease, she presented with recurrent benign nasopharyngeal lymphoid tumors. She subsequently developed benign lymphoepithelial lesions involving both a submandibular and then a parotid salivary gland. She eventually underwent pneumonectomy for lymphocytic interstitial pneumonitis with marked cystic degeneration and lung destruction. Although frank malignancy has not been demonstrated review of her nasopharyngeal biopsies and of her pulmonary pathology shows a tendency toward distinct cellular uniformity with loss of follicles and germinal centers. Concurrently, immunologic studies have demonstrated abnormalities of cell mediated (T cell) function.