Hepatic parenchymal lymphoid aggregates in Hodgkin's disease

One hundred twenty-three liver biopsies performed at staging laparotomy for Hodgkin's disease were reviewed. Discrete parenchymal lymphoid infiltrates with variable cytologic atypia were identified in 12 patients. None of these patients had liver involvement by Hodgkin's disease. All 12 patients were alive with no clinical evidence of liver disease at last follow-up examination; however, two had extrahepatic relapses of Hodgkin's disease. Parenchymal lymphoid aggregates, a nonspecific finding in the livers of patients with Hodgkin's disease, may show some degree of cytologic atypia, but they do not represent lymphoma. Such aggregates may be relatively common and they may be overinterpreted as neoplastic, particularly in patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.