Primary Central Nervous System Hodgkin Lymphoma-Like Posttransplant Lymphoproliferative Disorder

[A case of primary central nervous system post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease 14 years after living donor liver transplantation]

The patient was a 51-year-old man who had undergone living donor liver transplantation for type B cirrhosis at the age of 37 years, and had a history of immunosuppressive drug use. He had developed focal seizures starting from his right upper limb, and MRI showed a lesion in the subcortical white matter of his left parietal lobe. Sensory disturbance and paralysis progressed in his right upper and lower limbs, and his brain lesion rapidly enlarged. A brain biopsy revealed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, and Epstein-Barr virus-encoded small RNA in situ hybridization was positive. The patient was diagnosed with primary central nervous system post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PCNS-PTLD) with no lesions in other organs. There are few reports of PCNS-PTLD cases after living donor liver transplantation in Japan. Although rare, it is nevertheless important to consider this disease in patients receiving immunosuppressive drugs after organ transplantation who develop brain lesions, regardless of which organ was transplanted.

Primary central nervous system post-transplantation lymphoproliferative disorder: A case report and systematic review of imaging findings

Primary central nervous system post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease (PCNS-PTLD) is a rare subset of post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD) isolated to the CNS without nodal or extra-nodal organ involvement [1,2]. PCNS-PTLD occurs primarily in patients following either solid organ transplants or hematopoietic stem cell transplants and tends to be monomorphic DLBCL. The development of PCNS-PTLD is commonly associated with EBV infection [3]. Many intracranial pathologies can resemble the imaging appearance of PCNS-PTLD, including primary CNS lymphoma, glial tumors, metastatic disease, and intracranial abscesses. The purpose of this systematic review is to identify the most common imaging characteristics of PCNS-PTLD. Our review included 97 sources that describe the imaging appearance of PCNS-PTLD. Based on our review, PCNS-PTLD lesions are typically multifocal, ring-enhancing and diffusion-restricting. PCNS-PTLD lesions typically demonstrate focal FDG avidity. Despite advancement in medical imaging, PCNS-PTLD remains a diagnostic challenge due to its rare incidence. Limited data is available on advanced imaging with regards to PTLD, but techniques including DCE-MRI and fMRI demonstrate promising results that may help further delineate PCNS-PTLD.

Primary central nervous system Hodgkin lymphoma: A case report and review of the literature

Central nervous system (CNS) involvement in the context of relapsed/refractory Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a quite rare, but well-known complication. Nevertheless, primary CNS-HL is an exceedingly rare condition, which diagnosis is based on well-defined morphological and immunohistochemical features, in addition to isolated involvement of the CNS. In spite of limited casuistry (just over twenty cases reported in the literature), available data agree that primary and isolated CNS-HL, when treated with a combination of surgery followed by some form of adjuvant therapy (radiotherapy±chemotherapy), carries a better prognosis than those cases with CNS involvement in the context of relapsed/refractory HL or those with CNS non-Hodgkin lymphoma. We herein report a case of a 55-year-old female patient who was diagnosed with primary CNS-HL. The patient was treated with complete surgical resection followed by intrathecal chemotherapy and whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT), showing fourteen months of disease-free survival at the time of this case report. A review of the available literature is also presented.

Case Report: Primary Indolent Epstein-Barr Virus-Positive T-Cell Lymphoproliferative Disease Involving the Central Nervous System

Background

T-cell lymphoproliferative disease (T-LPD), characterized by primary Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) infection and clonal proliferation of T cells, occurs both in systemic and non-lymphatic organs. However, isolated indolent EBV-positive T-LPD involving the central nervous system has not been reported.

Case Presentation

A 48-year-old male who complained of headache, blurred vision, and weakness of the left lower limb for 1 month was hospitalized in our department. Neither neurological deficit nor palpable lymphadenopathy had been found. Bone marrow and laboratory tests had shown no abnormality as well. Enhanced MRI demonstrated enhanced cotton-like lesions up to 20 mm in diameter located in the right frontal, temporal, parietal and left parietal, occipital lobes with perifocal edema. Neuronavigation-assisted mini-craniotomy was performed to achieve total excision of the right temporal superficial lesion and identify the diagnosis. Pathological and EBV analysis described the lesion as indolent EBV-positive T-cell lymphoproliferative disease of the central nervous system (CNS). Then, a therapeutic regimen including whole-brain irradiation, chemotherapy, prednisolone, and aciclovir was given. Serial radiological imaging showed no signal of recurrence at 5 months' follow-up.

Conclusion

Primary indolent T-LPD in the central nervous system is quite rare, and it needs to be distinguished from aggressive cerebral T-cell lymphoma, metastatic tumors, and other CNS lesions.

Management of Epstein-Barr virus-related post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Epstein–Barr virus-related post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (EBV-PTLD) is a rare but life-threatening complication after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). T-cell immunodeficiency after transplantation and EBV primary infection/reactivation play major roles in the pathogenesis. Unspecific clinical manifestations make the diagnosis difficult and time consuming. Moreover, this fatal disease usually progresses rapidly, and leads to multiple organ dysfunction or death if not treated promptly. Early diagnosis of EBV-DNAemia or EBV-PTLD generally increases the chances of successful treatment by focusing on regular monitoring of EBV-DNA and detection of symptomatic patients as early as possible. Rituximab ± reduction of immunosuppression (RI) is currently the first-line choice in preemptive intervention and targeted treatment. Unless patients are suffering from severe graft versus host disease (GvHD), it is better to combine rituximab with RI. Once a probable diagnosis is made, the first-line treatment should be initiated rapidly, along with, or ahead of, biopsy, although histopathologic confirmation is requisite. In addition, EBV-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (EBV-CTLs) or donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI) has shown promise in cases of suboptimal response. Chemotherapy ± rituximab might lend more opportunities to refractory/relapsed patients, who might also benefit from ongoing clinical trials. Herein, we discuss our clinical experience in detail based on the current literature and our five cases.