A case of T-cell pyothorax-associated lymphoma with Epstein-Barr virus infection diagnosed by imprint cytology

Abstract

Background : Most pyothorax-associated lymphoma (PAL), a rare late complication of tuberculous pyothorax or induced artificial pneumothorax, has a B-cell but rarely a T-cell phenotype. We report a case of T-cell PAL with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) diagnosed by imprint cytology of a chest wall mass.
Case : An 86-year-old man undergoing artificial pneumothorax for pulmonary tuberculosis at age 27 and seen for left hypochondrial pain. He was found in incisional biopsy of the mass to have a tumor diagnosed as T-cell lymphoma with EBV infection by imprint cytology. The final tumor diagnosis was peripheral T-cell lymphoma not otherwise specified histologically or immunohistochemically.
Conclusions : In the unique, very rare T-cell PAL case we report, we determined the lymphoma type and EBV infection through imprint cytology combined with proactive immunocytochemical staining.