Lymphoma in autopsy cases

Lymphoproliferative disorders cause significant morbidity and mortality, either related to the disease itself or therapy complications. Some cases of lymphoma may have vague clinical presentation, especially in the absence of lymphadenopathy, and a clinical work up may not be conclusive. Our study focuses on autopsy cases of lymphoma patients, emphasizing clinically unsuspected cases. Autopsy records from the last 20 years at our institution were searched, and the clinical parameters were recorded. Fifteen cases of lymphoma were identified, and 5 cases were diagnosed at the time of autopsy. Most B-cell lymphoma cases were mainly nodal disease, while T-cell lymphoma cases had widespread extra-nodal disease. Most deaths in B-cell lymphoma are due to infection/therapy induced immunosuppression, whereas T-cell lymphoma deaths are due to organ infiltration by lymphoma. Postmortem examination may reveal clinically unsuspected lymphoma, especially in rapidly deteriorating patients with vague presentation such as skin rash, bowel obstruction/bleeding or pacemaker malfunction.