Progress in clinicopathologic research of lymphomatosis cerebri

Abstract

Lymphomatosis cerebri (LC) is a rare variant of primary central nervous system lymphoma. It presents usually as rapidly progressive dementia and is accompanied by extensive white matter changes without formation of a cohesive mass in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The main pathological feature is diffuse infiltration in the white matter by individual neoplastic cells without formation of a cohesive tumor mass. The neurobehavioral deficits manifested by the patients demonstrate that lymphomatosis cerebri is an additional neoplastic cause of white matter dementia and can be added to the growing list of disorders responsible for this syndrome. Early pathological examination is important for specific treatment and interventions. Although more attention has been paid on lymphomatosis cerebri in clinical course, the knowledge about this disease is still on the base of case reports and lacks of systematic analysis both at home and abroad. We reviewed the case reports abroad and collected clinical and pathological data of 17 individuals who were diagnosed lymphomatosis cerebri through biopsy and (or) autopsy in the hope of deep and overall recognition of this disease.

DOI：10.3969/j.issn.1672⁃6731.2012.05.020