An Asian variant of intravascular large B-cell lymphoma: clinical, pathological and cytogenetic approaches to diffuse large B-cell lymphoma associated with haemophagocytic syndrome
T. Murase et al., An Asian variant of intravascular large B-cell lymphoma: clinical, pathological and cytogenetic approaches to diffuse large B-cell lymphoma associated with haemophagocytic syndrome, BR J HAEM, 111(3), 2000, pp. 826-834
Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma with haemophagocytic syndrome (BCL-HS) has be
en reported mainly in Asia and is regarded as a distinct variant of intrava
scular lymphoma (IVL). However, it is unclear whether all cases of BCL-HS f
all within the framework of IVL and available clinical information is limit
ed. We analysed 25 cases with BCL-HS, including 11 autopsied cases (median,
66 years; male-female ratio, 1.1:1). The patients presented with fever, an
aemia, thrombocytopenia, hepatosplenomegaly, haemophagocytosis, bone marrow
invasion, respiratory disturbance and disseminated intravascular coagulopa
thy, but usually lacked lymphadenopathy, mass formation, neurological abnor
malities and skin lesions. The clinical course was aggressive with a median
survival of 7 months. The morphological findings were uniform: large lymph
oid cells infiltrated vessels and/or sinusoids of the liver, marrow, lung,
kidney and other organs. They were positive for CD19, CD20, CD79a and HLA-D
R, but negative for CD10, CD23 and CD30. CD5 was positive in five out of 17
cases. Our critical review indicates that BCL-HS is the equivalent of the
Asian variant of IVL.