Primary pulmonary T-cell lymphoma mimicking asthma and community-acquired pneumonia: a rare case report
  • Khoa Nguyen-Dang
    Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Cho Ray Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
  • Nguyen Tran-Ngoc
    Department of Tuberculosis and Pulmonary Disease, Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
  • Ngoc Duong-Minh
    Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Cho Ray Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
  • Thong Pham-Quang
    Department of Pathology, Cho Ray Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
  • Hanh-Duyen Bui-Thi
    Department of Intensive Care, University Medical Center Ho Chi Minh City, University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Keywords

Primary pulmonary T-cell lymphoma, asthma, CT angiogram sign, non-resolving pneumonia

Abstract

Primary pulmonary T-cell lymphoma (PPTL) is a rare disease. Diagnosing PPTL is challenging due to non-specific clinical symptoms and imaging. A 32-year-old female presented with persistent fever, cough, and dyspnoea. The symptoms were initially treated as asthma and community-acquired pneumonia without improvement. Chest computed tomography (CT) revealed bilateral consolidations with a CT angiogram sign, and flexible bronchoscopy showed infiltrative lesions causing bronchial stenosis. Histopathological examination of the tissue biopsy identified T-cell lymphoma through immunohistochemical staining positive for CD3. This case highlights the importance of considering differential diagnoses such as PPTL in patients with atypical presentations of asthma or non-resolving pneumonia. This case also demonstrates the diagnostic utility of flexible bronchoscopy in identifying airway obstruction due to malignant cells, which can mimic asthma.

VIEW THE ENTIRE ARTICLE

References

  • Pina-Oviedo S, Weissferdt A, Kalhor N, Moran CA. Primary Pulmonary Lymphomas. Adv Anat Pathol 2015;22:355-375.
  • Sirmali M, Kalac N, Agackiran Y, Kaya S. Primary pulmonary lymphoma disguised as asthma. Acta Chir Belg 2006;106:127-129.
  • Yang L, Feng W, Chen C, Zhang X, Zhu Y, Lei W, et al. Primary pulmonary T-cell lymphoma mimicking pneumonia: A case report and literature review. Exp Ther Med 2016;12:365-368.
  • Laohaburanakit P, Hardin KA. NK/T cell lymphoma of the lung: a case report and review of literature. Thorax 2006;61:267-270.
  • Zhang S, Liang B, Jiang S. Primary pulmonary peripheral T-cell lymphoma: A case report and review of the literature. Thorac Cancer 2014;5:104-107.
  • Shannon VR, Andersson BS, Lei X, Champlin RE, Kontoyiannis DP. Utility of early versus late fiberoptic bronchoscopy in the evaluation of new pulmonary infiltrates following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Bone Marrow Transplant 2010;45:647-655.
  • Shi L, Zeng Y, Lin H, Chen X. An atypical case of primary pulmonary peripheral T-cell lymphoma misdiagnosed as a pulmonary infectious disease: A case report and literature review. Indian J Cancer 2021;58:302-306.
  • Takahara Y, Sakuma T, Nishiki K, Nakase K, Nojiri M, Ueda Y, et al. Primary pulmonary T-cell lymphoma with lung adenocarcinoma: a case report. J Med Case Rep 2019;13:199.
  • Chen Y, Chen A, Jiang H, Zhang Y, Zhu L, Xia C, et al. HRCT in primary pulmonary lymphoma: can CT imaging phenotypes differentiate histological subtypes between mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma and non-MALT lymphoma? J Thorac Dis 2018;10:6040-6049.
  • Kim JH, Lee SH, Park J, Kim HY, Lee SI, Park JO, et al. Primary pulmonary non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Jpn J Clin Oncol 2004;34:510-514.

    • Views: 397
    HTML downloads: 54
    PDF downloads: 207

    Published: 2023-11-20
    Issue: 2023: Vol 10 No 12 (view)

    How to cite:
    1.
    Nguyen-Dang K, Tran-Ngoc N, Duong-Minh N, Pham-Quang T, Bui-Thi H-D. Primary pulmonary T-cell lymphoma mimicking asthma and community-acquired pneumonia: a rare case report. EJCRIM 2023;10 doi:10.12890/2023_004182.

    Most read articles by the same author(s)