Abstract
The differential diagnosis of rapidly progressive or symptomatic lymphadenopathy in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL) includes infectious lymphadenitis. We studied 286 (9%) of 3040 patients with CLL seen between 2003 and 2012 at Mayo Clinic Rochester who had 356 diagnostic lymph node biopsies to evaluate rapidly progressive or symptomatic lymphadenopathy. Most (85.4%) biopsies showed progressive CLL, 8.9% a second lymphoid malignancy, 3.9% infectious lymphadenitis, 1.1% reactive adenitis and 0.6% non-hematological malignancies. Of the 12 patients (14 biopsies) with infectious lymphadenitis, five patients had never been treated for their CLL, and seven had a specific microbiological diagnosis (herpes simplex n = 3, Cryptococcus neoformans n = 1, Mycobacterium n = 1, coagulase negative Staphylococcus n = 2). We conclude that infectious lymphadenitis is a rare complication of CLL with clinical characteristics similar to progressive CLL and transformation to a more aggressive lymphoma. Early recognition and antimicrobial therapy treatment of infectious lymphadenitis can be highly effective in these patients.
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 311-314 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Leukemia and Lymphoma |
Volume | 56 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Feb 1 2015 |
Keywords
- CLL
- Chronic lymphocytic leukemia
- Cryptococcus
- Herpes simplex
- Infection
- Lymphadenitis
- Lymphadenopathy
- Mycobacterium avium
- Small lymphocytic lymphoma
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Hematology
- Oncology
- Cancer Research