Abstract
Background
Pulmonary MALT lymphoma is a rare disease that is easily misdiagnosed. The objective
of this study was to improve the understanding of pulmonary MALT lymphoma for clinicians.
Methods
The computed tomography (CT) scans of 18 patients (13 males and 5 females), aged 41-70
years (mean=55.6 years), with histologically proven pulmonary MALT lymphoma were retrospectively
reviewed by two radiologists, and pulmonary imaging findings were described. Correlations
between the pulmonary abnormalities and histopathological findings in 13 patients
were retrospectively reviewed.
Results
Elementary lesions were characterized by masses or mass-like areas of consolidation
(15/18), nodules (5/18), air bronchograms (16/18), airway dilatation (7/18), cavitation
(5/18), airways passing through the lesion (8/18), CT angiogram signs (12/14) and
vessels passing through the lesion (12/14). Additional findings included multiple
cysts (n = 1), pleural effusion (n = 1) and atelectasis (n = 1). Pulmonary abnormalities were correlated with pathological appearance. Pathological
examination confirmed lymphomatous infiltration with a bronchovascular distribution
but no vessel or airway destruction, which appeared on CT as the vessels/airways passed
through lesions naturally.
Conclusions
We herein demonstrated the imaging findings for 18 cases of pulmonary MALT lymphomas
by analyzing the corresponding pathologies. We also discovered that vessels/airways
could pass through pulmonary MALT lymphoma lesions, which may be helpful for diagnosis.
This disease should be considered when chest CT imaging shows multiple/single masses
or nodules or mass-like areas of consolidation together with vessels/airways passing
through lesions.
Key Indexing Terms
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: March 11, 2022
Accepted:
February 24,
2022
Received:
March 4,
2021
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 Southern Society for Clinical Investigation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
