Splenic involvement in lymphomas. Evaluation on serial CT examinations.
OBJECTIVE
To prospectively evaluate changes in splenic volume (SV) on serial CT of patients with lymphoma and correlate them with other indicators of the disease process.


METHODS
SV was calculated in 290 abdominal CT examinations of 58 consecutive adults with lymphoma (42 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, 16 Hodgkin's disease). Each patient had one CT investigation before, 2 during chemotherapy and 2 post-chemotherapy. The changes in SV were correlated with clinical, laboratory and other imaging indicators of the disease process.


RESULTS
Three groups of patients were identified. Group A (n=20) presented no changes in SV, showed no splenic parenchymal abnormalities and had normal SV and serum lactic dehydrogenase (S-LDH). Group B (n=25) presented a decrease in SV during treatment suggesting response to therapy. Splenic parenchymal abnormalities (n=5) and other subdiaphragmatic sites of involvement (n=20) underwent remission during treatment. Eighteen patients with high S-LDH at presentation showed normal values during therapy. Group C (n=12) showed an increase in SV post-therapy associated with manifestations of disease recurrence. The S-LDH levels were elevated in 10 patients at the same time.


CONCLUSIONS
Quantitatively assessed splenic size on CT may serve as an indicator of splenic involvement in the course of lymphomas.
Daskalogiannaki
M
M
Department of Radiology, University Hospital of Crete, Heraklion, Crete, Greece.
Prassopoulos
P
P
Katrinakis
G
G
Tritou
I
I
Eliopoulos
G
G
Gourtsoyiannis
N
N
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008223:Lymphoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013154:Spleen / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed