Tuberculosis hiding a non-Hodgkin lymphoma "there may be more to this than meets the eye"

M Dres; A Demoule; M Schmidt; T Similowski

doi:10.1016/j.rmcr.2012.10.002

Tuberculosis hiding a non-Hodgkin lymphoma "there may be more to this than meets the eye"

Respir Med Case Rep. 2012 Nov 26:7:15-6. doi: 10.1016/j.rmcr.2012.10.002. eCollection 2012.

Authors

M Dres¹, A Demoule¹, M Schmidt¹, T Similowski¹

Affiliation

¹ Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, Service de Pneumologie et Réanimation Médicale, 47-83 Bd de l'Hôpital, 75651 Paris Cedex 13, France.

Abstract

Tuberculosis and lymphoma can share common features. We report the case of a non-HIV 60-year old man diagnosed with a severe form of disseminated tuberculosis in whom the atypical course of the disease under treatment led to investigations that unveiled the coexistence a non-Hodgkin lymphoma. This rare association has putative pathophysiological foundations. This justifies to raise the lymphoma hypothesis when a proved tuberculosis exhibits an atypical course.

Keywords: Lymphoma; Splenomegaly; Tuberculosis.