Cranial vault lymphoma: a systematic review of five patients

Bone involvement is a common finding in many types of lymphoma (Clin Oncol 9(3): 195–196, 1997). However, cranial vault affliction has been regarded as an exceedingly rare presentation, particularly in the case of primary lymphoma (J Neurosurg 108(5): 1018–1020, 2008). Our objective is to describe a series of five immunocompetent patients with histologically confirmed cranial vault lymphoma (CVL), and to conduct a systematic review of the current literature. Our review points out identical imaging patterns in most of the lesions for all reported CVL cases, despite their different histological subtypes. This typical pattern can be seen on computed tomography (CT) scans and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as an expansive tumor that affects all three compartments of the cranial vault, including the scalp, skull bone, and pachymeninges, even in the absence of osteolysis. We argue that the absence of osteolysis might enhance diagnostic capability. In the appropriate clinical setting, these features represent important disease characteristics that may help with an earlier diagnosis. Large B-cell lymphoma was the most common subtype of primary CVL.