W Mustapha, Wan Irfan and Md Ralib @ Md Raghib, Ahmad Razali
(2019)
B Cell Lymphoma of Thoracic Vertebrae: a great mimicker.
International Journal of Allied Health Sciences (IJAHS), 3 (3 Special Issue).
E-ISSN 2600-8491
Abstract
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) is a malignant neoplasm affecting multiple systems in which
extranodal NHL represents 10-20% of all NHL. This is a case of a 45-year-old female with no
known medical illness who presented with progressive numbness of bilateral lower limbs since
March 2016 which subsequently progress to loss of motor power since November 2016. She
initially was diagnosed as tuberculous (TB) spondylitis which then turned out to be B cell
lymphoma of the thoracic vertebra. The diagnosis was confirmed on histopathological
examination (HPE) after the patient underwent laminectomy of T3-T7 vertebra bodies and
excision biopsy with the removal of the caseous material. Due to a lack of specific findings, the
diagnosis of vertebral NHL is often missed or delayed. It warrants the attention that NHL of a
thoracic vertebra may be misdiagnosed as TB spondylitis due to their similarities, and
sometimes the imaging features may simulate and overlap each other. The main treatment for
vertebral NHL is chemotherapy, radiotherapy or both. Surgery may be necessary if the patient
has a story of neurological deficits. However, the patient was treated conservatively as she
refused chemotherapy.
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