Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma as an unexpected diagnosis in a hip arthroplasty

Total hip replacement is routinely performed for osteoarthritis of the hip joint. We report a case of Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma as an unexpected diagnosis after routine pathological examination of the bone block harvested during total hip replacement in an asymptomatic patient. Although controversies exist regarding the cost effectiveness of routine specimen evaluation during total hip replacement, we suggest that histological analysis of any unusual-looking surgical tissues is appropriate and should be performed in all the patients who have suspicious surgical findings. To our knowledge, this is the first case of lymphoma detected during primary total hip replacement.