Cerebral lymphoma: clinical and radiological findings in 90 cases

Cerebral lymphoma is a rare non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, which involves the brain primarily or after systemic involvement. Because of its infiltrating nature and its sensitivity to radio- and chemotherapy, surgical removal has a limited role in its treatment and only a stereotactic biopsy is necessary for confirming the diagnosis.

The data from all cases in whom the cerebral lymphomas were pathologically confirmed and were admitted to the Neurosurgery Department of Shohada Hospital for stereotactic biopsy during a 15-year period were analyzed retrospectively.

The male to female ratio was 1.3:1 and the mean age was 51.7 years. Sixty-seven percent of the patients had multiple lesions and the remainder had solitary lesions. The most common site of involvement in patients with multiple lesions was diencephalon and in patients with solitary lesions was frontal lobe. The mean duration from symptom presentation to stereotactic biopsy was three months. Systemic lymphoma was detected in nine patients and three patients had a history of immunosuppressive drug consumption. The most common presenting symptom was headache in 42% and the most common sign was paresis in 59% of the patients. In 53 patients, follow-up was performed by phone call. Of these, seven cases had died without treatment in an average of 40 days after diagnosis, 28 patients died despite adjuvant treatment in an average of 8.5 months, and 18 cases were alive by the time of last follow-up with average of 17 months. Overall survival of the treated group was 12 months.

There was no mortality related to stereotactic biopsies in these patients.