Objective
To explore the clinical characteristics of patients with lymphoma firstly manifested as symptoms in respiratory system.
Methods
The clinical data of 9 patients with lymphoma were analyzed retrospectively and discussed with literature review.
Results
There were 7 males and 2 females with an average age of 48.2 years and a median disease course of 20 days. All patients were diagnosed by pathology while specimens were obtained by cervical lymph node biopsies in 2 cases, by CT-guided percutaneous lung biopsies in 2 cases, by bronchoscope mucosal biopsies in 2 cases, by transbronchial needle aspiration biopsies in 1 case, by thoracoscope lung biopsies in 1 case, and by ascites cell block inspection in 1 case. The main symptoms were cough (7/9), expectoration (3/9), fever (3/9) and wheeze (2/9). Chest CT showed tumors (3/9, multiple in 1 case), enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes (6/9), enlarged hilar lymph nodes (3/9), pulmonary consolidation (3/9), pleural effusion (6/9, bilateral in 3 cases), pleural thickening (2/9), pulmonary atelectasis (2/9), patchy shadow (7/9), pericardial effusion (1/9). Laboratory examination demonstrated elevated cancer antigen 125 (CA125) in 7 cases while elevated lactic acid dehydrogenase (LDH) in 4 cases. One patient died during hospitalization in the respiratory department, 1 patient auto-discharged without further treatment, 1 patient died in follow-up period. Five patients remain alive up to now.
Conclusions
The symptoms of patients with lymphoma are atypical while the chest radiological findings are varied. CA125 and LDH play important role in evaluating disease and predicting prognosis in patients with lymphoma.
