In the present communication, an unusual combination of scalp
soft tissue and underlying brain involvement with intact skull bone coupled
with bilateral renal involvement from a mediastinal diffuse large B cell
lymphoma (DLBL) is presented. A 45-year-old man, a diagnosed case of
mediastinal DLBL with bilateral lung involvement, was treated with conventional
6 cycles of chemotherapy and local external radiotherapy with initial good treatment response evidenced by
considerable regression in mass size and regression in pulmonary lesions. Three
months later, he returned with complaints of soft tissue swelling over the scalp; one of them in the high
parietal bone and the other over the occipital region. A whole body FDGPET
at this time showed 2 moderate-sized foci in the scalp (with preservation
of both tables of skull bone) and corresponding large foci in the brain
parenchyma beneath, a superior mediastinal focus, a few foci in the apical
and lower zone of left lung, extensive irregular uptake in the right pleura and
the right lung parenchyma coupled with a loculated effusion in its lower zone
and studded foci of hypermetabolism throughout the bilaterally enlarged
kidneys. CT of the head confirmed the FDG-PET findings and histopathology
of the biopsy from the scalp swelling was suggestive of DLBL. Ultrasound imaging of the abdomen showed lobulated bilaterally enlarged
kidneys with multiple hypoechoic areas within them. The patient underwent
palliative local external radiotherapy to the brain and systemic chemotherapy
with poor clinical results with raised serum beta-2
microglobulin and serum LDH levels and deranged renal function. The patient died within a month after
the FDG-PET study. The event of scalp and bilateral renal involvement from
DLBL is rare in lymphoma literature and this report highlights that such unusual
events can occur as part of widespread dissemination and underscores the
importance of whole-body imaging with FDG-PET.
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