Unusual Presentation of Non-Hodgkin’s B-Cell Lymphoma with Unilateral Right Limb Lymphedema

Massimo Bolognesi^1*, Diletta Bolognesi²

¹General Practice Medicine-Primary Care, Cesena, Italy.
²Territorial Medicine-Primary Care, Cesena, Italy.

DOI: 10.4236/crcm.2014.311125                

Abstract

Background: In clinical practice and setting of general practice it is common to see patients with leg edema. To correctly identify the etiology of the edema and then properly manage the cause is not always easy. The unilateral lymphedema of the lower limb has rarely been reported as an initial presentation for lymphoma, especially in females, usually without classic signs or symptoms, but often with inguinal lymphadenopathy or abdominal masses. Case Report: In this article, we report a rare case of unilateral lower limb edema in a healthy obese woman who complained about the appearance of the disease for several months and for whom deep vein thrombosis and other diseases had been excluded. The histological examination of the biopsy of an enlarged lymph node in the right groin, which was compressing the iliac and femoral vein, revealed the presence of B cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma with high-grade malignancy. Conclusions: A common challenge for primary care physicians is to determine the cause and find an effective treatment for leg edema of unclear etiology. Non-Hodgkin’s B-cell Lymphoma should be considered in the differential diagnosis in patients with unilateral leg edema when the swelling is chronic and deep venous thrombosis is promptly excluded.

Keywords

Component, Unilateral Leg Edema, Non-Hodgkin’s B-Cell Lymphoma, Inguinal Lymphadenopathy

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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