Intravascular lymphomatosis

PubMed, the Internet portal of biomedical and life sciences literature, indexed an interesting article, entitled “A case of a patient with cognitive impairment and gait disturbance.” (Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen. 2007 May 3;127(9):1210-1). Authors are Ruud KJ, Scheie D and Kerty E, from the Nevrologisk avdeling, Rikshospitalet-Radiumhospitalet, Norway. Intravascular lymphomatosis is a rare disease, characterized by occlusion of small arterioles and veins by malignant lymphoma cells. It often affects the central and peripheral nervous system and the skin. This case report illustrates the diagnostic challenge. Most patients develop rapidly progressive dementia combined with focal neurological symptoms. No relevant clinical, radiological or laboratory tests are available to diagnose the disease. Blood samples and bone marrow are usually normal. The prognosis is poor, but early aggressive chemotherapy can potentially prolong the life span and in a few cases be curative. To access the full abstract of the article, click here.