[A case of pulmonary involvement of malignant lymphoma with diffuse ground-glass opacity in chest CT]

A chest CT of an 82-year-old woman suffering from general fatigue revealed ground-glass opacities in both lower lung fields. Antibiotics were administered, but the ground-glass opacities developed into air-space consolidation with air-bronchogram. Hematuria was observed and abdominal CT showed multiple retroperitoneal masses, suggesting malignant lymphoma. The case was diagnosed histopathologically as malignant lymphoma (non-Hodgkins) of the diffuse, medium-sized B cell type on the basis of a right inguinal lymph node biopsy. Autopsy results suggested that the malignant lymphoma may have developed from the left adrenal gland. In the lungs, lymphoma cells infiltrated mainly into the interstitial spaces, but also into some alveolar spaces. The ground-glass opacities found in this case may have reflected the infiltration of lymphoma cells into the pulmonary interstitial spaces.