Flow Cytometry as a Diagnostic Tool in the Early Diagnosis of Aggressive Lymphomas Mimicking Life-Threatening Infection

Aggressive lymphomas can present with symptoms mimicking life-threatening infection. Flow cytometry (FC) is usually recommended for the classification and staging of lymphomas in patients with organomegaly and atypical cells in effusions and blood, after the exclusion of other possible diagnoses. FC...

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Main Authors: Nikolaos J. Tsagarakis, Nektaria A. Kentrou, Georgios Kakiopoulos, Georgios Androutsos, Athanasios Galanopoulos, Christos Michaelidis, Dimitra Rontogianni, Apostolos Tolis, Stavroula Chini, Georgios Gortzolidis, Konstantinos A. Papadimitriou, Dimitra Skoumi, Konstantina Tzanetou, Georgios Paterakis
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2011-01-01
Series:Case Reports in Medicine
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2011/743817
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author Nikolaos J. Tsagarakis
Nektaria A. Kentrou
Georgios Kakiopoulos
Georgios Androutsos
Athanasios Galanopoulos
Christos Michaelidis
Dimitra Rontogianni
Apostolos Tolis
Stavroula Chini
Georgios Gortzolidis
Konstantinos A. Papadimitriou
Dimitra Skoumi
Konstantina Tzanetou
Georgios Paterakis
author_facet Nikolaos J. Tsagarakis
Nektaria A. Kentrou
Georgios Kakiopoulos
Georgios Androutsos
Athanasios Galanopoulos
Christos Michaelidis
Dimitra Rontogianni
Apostolos Tolis
Stavroula Chini
Georgios Gortzolidis
Konstantinos A. Papadimitriou
Dimitra Skoumi
Konstantina Tzanetou
Georgios Paterakis
author_sort Nikolaos J. Tsagarakis
collection DOAJ
description Aggressive lymphomas can present with symptoms mimicking life-threatening infection. Flow cytometry (FC) is usually recommended for the classification and staging of lymphomas in patients with organomegaly and atypical cells in effusions and blood, after the exclusion of other possible diagnoses. FC may also have a place in the initial diagnostic investigation of aggressive lymphoma. Three cases are presented here of highly aggressive lymphomas in young adults, which presented with the clinical picture of fever of unknown origin (FUO) in patients severely ill. All followed a life-threatening clinical course, and two developed the hemophagocytic syndrome (HPS), but microbiological, immunological, and morphological evaluation and immunohistochemistry (IHC) failed to substantiate an early diagnosis. FC was the technique that provided conclusive diagnostic evidence of lymphoma, subsequently verified by IHC. Our experience with these three cases highlights the potential role of FC as an adjunct methodology in the initial assessment of possible highly aggressive lymphoma presenting with the signs and symptoms of life-threatening infection, although the definitive diagnosis should be established by biopsy. In such cases, FC can contribute to the diagnosis of lymphoma, independently of the presence of HPS.
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spelling doaj-art-41f28736daca494284760f32941d6d8a2025-08-20T02:39:16ZengWileyCase Reports in Medicine1687-96271687-96352011-01-01201110.1155/2011/743817743817Flow Cytometry as a Diagnostic Tool in the Early Diagnosis of Aggressive Lymphomas Mimicking Life-Threatening InfectionNikolaos J. Tsagarakis0Nektaria A. Kentrou1Georgios Kakiopoulos2Georgios Androutsos3Athanasios Galanopoulos4Christos Michaelidis5Dimitra Rontogianni6Apostolos Tolis7Stavroula Chini8Georgios Gortzolidis9Konstantinos A. Papadimitriou10Dimitra Skoumi11Konstantina Tzanetou12Georgios Paterakis13Flow Cytometry Laboratory, Department of Immunology, Athens Regional General Hospital “G. Gennimatas”, 11527 Athens, GreeceFlow Cytometry Laboratory, Department of Immunology, Athens Regional General Hospital “G. Gennimatas”, 11527 Athens, GreeceDepartment of Pathology, Athens Regional General Hospital “G. Gennimatas”, 11527 Athens, GreeceDepartment of Laboratory Hematology, Athens Regional General Hospital “G. Gennimatas”, 11527 Athens, GreeceDepartment of Clinical Hematology, Athens Regional General Hospital “G. Gennimatas”, 11527 Athens, Greece1st Department of Internal Medicine, Athens Regional General Hospital “G. Gennimatas”, 11527 Athens, GreeceDepartment of Pathology, Evangelismos General Hospital, 10676 Athens, Greece2nd Department of Internal Medicine, Athens Regional General Hospital “G. Gennimatas”, 11527 Athens, Greece3rd Department of Internal Medicine, Athens Regional General Hospital “G. Gennimatas”, 11527 Athens, GreeceDepartment of Clinical Hematology, Athens Regional General Hospital “G. Gennimatas”, 11527 Athens, GreeceFlow Cytometry Laboratory, Department of Immunology, Athens Regional General Hospital “G. Gennimatas”, 11527 Athens, GreeceFlow Cytometry Laboratory, Department of Immunology, Athens Regional General Hospital “G. Gennimatas”, 11527 Athens, GreeceDepartment of Microbiology, Athens Regional General Hospital “G. Gennimatas”, Mesogion Avenue 154, 11527 Athens, GreeceFlow Cytometry Laboratory, Department of Immunology, Athens Regional General Hospital “G. Gennimatas”, 11527 Athens, GreeceAggressive lymphomas can present with symptoms mimicking life-threatening infection. Flow cytometry (FC) is usually recommended for the classification and staging of lymphomas in patients with organomegaly and atypical cells in effusions and blood, after the exclusion of other possible diagnoses. FC may also have a place in the initial diagnostic investigation of aggressive lymphoma. Three cases are presented here of highly aggressive lymphomas in young adults, which presented with the clinical picture of fever of unknown origin (FUO) in patients severely ill. All followed a life-threatening clinical course, and two developed the hemophagocytic syndrome (HPS), but microbiological, immunological, and morphological evaluation and immunohistochemistry (IHC) failed to substantiate an early diagnosis. FC was the technique that provided conclusive diagnostic evidence of lymphoma, subsequently verified by IHC. Our experience with these three cases highlights the potential role of FC as an adjunct methodology in the initial assessment of possible highly aggressive lymphoma presenting with the signs and symptoms of life-threatening infection, although the definitive diagnosis should be established by biopsy. In such cases, FC can contribute to the diagnosis of lymphoma, independently of the presence of HPS.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2011/743817
spellingShingle Nikolaos J. Tsagarakis
Nektaria A. Kentrou
Georgios Kakiopoulos
Georgios Androutsos
Athanasios Galanopoulos
Christos Michaelidis
Dimitra Rontogianni
Apostolos Tolis
Stavroula Chini
Georgios Gortzolidis
Konstantinos A. Papadimitriou
Dimitra Skoumi
Konstantina Tzanetou
Georgios Paterakis
Flow Cytometry as a Diagnostic Tool in the Early Diagnosis of Aggressive Lymphomas Mimicking Life-Threatening Infection
Case Reports in Medicine
title Flow Cytometry as a Diagnostic Tool in the Early Diagnosis of Aggressive Lymphomas Mimicking Life-Threatening Infection
title_full Flow Cytometry as a Diagnostic Tool in the Early Diagnosis of Aggressive Lymphomas Mimicking Life-Threatening Infection
title_fullStr Flow Cytometry as a Diagnostic Tool in the Early Diagnosis of Aggressive Lymphomas Mimicking Life-Threatening Infection
title_full_unstemmed Flow Cytometry as a Diagnostic Tool in the Early Diagnosis of Aggressive Lymphomas Mimicking Life-Threatening Infection
title_short Flow Cytometry as a Diagnostic Tool in the Early Diagnosis of Aggressive Lymphomas Mimicking Life-Threatening Infection
title_sort flow cytometry as a diagnostic tool in the early diagnosis of aggressive lymphomas mimicking life threatening infection
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2011/743817
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