2008 Volume 22 Issue 7 Pages 1042-1045
The patient was a 56-year-old woman. Seven years ago, partial resection of the liver was performed for hepatic MALToma. In 2007, chest computed tomography (CT) revealed that multiple nodular shadows in the left upper lobe had grown compared with 2 years previously. Additionally, F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) showed accumulation in the nodule, neck lymph node, and pharynx. Therefore, we suspected the relapse of MALToma. Because biopsy of the pharynx or neck lymph node was technically difficult, left S1+2, S3 segmentectomy under video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) was performed to confirm the diagnosis and plan treatment. The immunohistologic sample revealed pulmonary MALToma. MALToma is a rare disease. Although MALToma shows a comparatively good prognosis, we must follow-up patients closely to check for relapse or metastasis, in spite there being an interval of several years.
