Focal echogenic splenic involvement in malignant lymphoma: a diagnostic problem.

Aim: The aim of our study was to describe clinical data, frequency of the f indings, sonographic patterns, confirmation of diagnosis, and differential diagnosis of focal echorich splenic lymphoma involvement. Patients: During the last 20 years a focal splenic lesion was found in 178 patients with mal ignant lymphoma, Echorich splenic lesions were seen in 11 out of 178 cases (6.2 %). Methods: Splenic size, echomorphology of lesions, size and number of lesions, and presentation during sonographic follow-up examination were presented. Results: Echorich infiltrates of the spleen were predominantly s een in patients with low grade Non-Hodgkin-Lymphoma (9 out of 11), the size of lesions mostly was less than 3 cm in diameter (9 out of 11), the underl ying splenic size was over 8 x 20 cm in 9 out of 11 patients. Diagnosis was confirmed by sonographic follow-up (n = 11) and autopsy (n = 1). Conclusio n: Echorich splenic lymphoma involvement is a rare event and is characteris ed by a variable presentation during followup. Up to date the clinic signif icance of our observation is still unclear.