Elsevier

Clinical Radiology

Volume 52, Issue 7, July 1997, Pages 535-540
Clinical Radiology

Original Paper
Malignant splenic lymphoma: Sonographic patterns, diagnosis and follow-up

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0009-9260(97)80331-5Get rights and content

Six hundred and eighty patients with malignant lymphoma were studied by abdominal sonography during 1983 and 1993 at our institution. Abnormal splenic texture was noted in 101 patients (14,8%). Involvement of the spleen was confirmed histologically (n = 8), by sonographic follow-up (n = 82), and on the basis of the clinical course in the remaining patients. Of the 101 patients with splenic involvement, 34 had Hodgkin's disease, 38 had a low-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and 29 a high-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Four different sonographic patterns were observed: (1) Diffuse involvement in 37 patients (pts) (36.6%). (2) Focal small nodular lesions in 39 pts (38.6%). (3) Focal large nodular lesions in 23 pts (22,7%). (4) ‘Bulky, disease’ in two pts (1.9%). All of the high-grade lymphomas showed either large nodular (15/29) or small nodular (14/29) lesions. The diffuse or small nodular pattern was seen predominantly in low-grade lymphomas (35/38) and in Hodgkin's disease (31/34). Conclusion: A number of different patterns of splenic involvement in lymphoma can be demonstrated by ultrasound. Splenic sonographic patterns can be linked to histological lymphoma entities.

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