PRIMARY LYMPHOMA OF THE SPLEEN - REPORT OF A CASE WITH DIAGNOSIS BY FINE-NEEDLE GUIDED BIOPSY

Primary splenic lymphoma is a relatively infrequent disease; the diagn osis of this entity is currently made with splenectomy. In a 52-year-o ld female with left upper quadrant abdominal pain, ultrasound showed a normal-sized spleen with an internal hypoechoic focal lesion. Ultraso nically-guided fine-needle aspiration and tissue core biopsy of the sp lenic lesion showed non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). At the time of prese ntation there was no evidence of involvement of lymph nodes, bone marr ow or any other organ. A diagnosis of primary splenic non-Hodgkin's ly mphoma was made and the patient underwent laparotomy with splenectomy. Histologic examination of the spleen confirmed the diagnosis: low-gra de NHL confined to the spleen. The patient is well and in complete rem ission seven months after diagnosis. The purpose of this paper is to r eport a rare occurrence of primary splenic lymphoma and to demonstrate the possibility of making this diagnosis by percutaneous guided biops y.