We describe the development of a lymphoma in a liver allograft shortly
after orthotopic liver transplantation. Aspiration and core biopsies
of the nodule were persistently negative so that a diagnosis could not
be made until the patient underwent retransplantation, when examinati
on of the liver resection specimen revealed a B-cell lymphoma. Using a
rapid technique based on the polymerase chain reaction, we were able
to demonstrate that the tumor was of donor origin.