[Concurrent nodal and extranodal lymphoma misdiagnosed as metastatic gingival carcinoma: A case report]

Early diagnosis of malignant lymphoma is often difficult since the clinical manifestation of the lymphoma occurred in the maxillofacial region is very similar to that of the squamous cell carcinoma. When the pathological diagnosis is not clear, the surgeon is easy to misdiagnose and lead to mistreatment. A patient visited the Affiliated Haikou Hospital of Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South Universily for gingival mass with an ipsilateral submaxillary enlargement. The clinical manifestation and preoperative MRI are very prone to squamous cell carcinoma with metastasis, so we did not take a preoperative pathological examination. The gingival mass was surgical removed firstly, but frozen pathological result showed that it was malignant small round cell tumor. Since the patient was diagnosed as high degree malignant of small round cell tumor and the submandibular region have been significantly metastasized, so we carried out the combined radical dissection of gingival, mandible and neck surgery. The postoperative pathological report was malignant lymphoma, suggesting that the patient was a case of misdiagnosis and mistreatment. This article draws lessons from misdiagnosis and provided experience for seeking improvement measures.