Gastric mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma: helical CT findings and pathologic correlation.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to describe helical CT findings of gastric mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma and to correlate them with pathologic findings.


METHODS
We retrospectively reviewed CT examinations of 58 patients with confirmed gastric MALT lymphomas. Using the histopathologic grade of the MALT lymphomas, we divided the patients into two groups: those with high-grade lymphoma (n = 21) and those with low-grade lymphoma (n = 37). Common CT findings for the two groups were reviewed and compared.


RESULTS
Forty (69%) of the 58 patients showed at least one abnormality of the stomach on CT. Abnormalities included diffuse or segmental gastric wall thickening (66%, 38/58), lymphadenopathy (40%, 23/58), ulcer (22%, 13/58), and gastric mass (3%, 2/58). Eighteen (31%) of 58 patients were found to have no abnormality. The high-grade group had a higher incidence of abnormalities seen on CT than the low-grade group (100% vs 51%, respectively). Gastric wall thickening in the high-grade group was more diffuse (48% vs 8%) and severe (71% vs 14%; severe or moderate) than that seen in the low-grade group. Lymphadenopathy was visualized in 67% of the high-grade group and in 24% of the low-grade group. Gastric ulcer was found in 57% of the high-grade group and in only 5% of the low-grade group. The gastric mass formation was seen in only two patients in the high-grade group.


CONCLUSIONS
The CT findings of gastric MALT lymphoma that the two groups had in common were gastric wall thickening and lymphadenopathy. Although our results pointed to no specific CT finding for differentiating high-grade from low-grade gastric MALT lymphomas, we found that the absence of abnormality on CT is highly predictive of low-grade MALT lymphoma.
Choi
Dongil
D
Department of Radiology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 50, Ilwon-Dong, Kangnam-Ku, Seoul 135-710, Korea.
Lim
Hyo K
HK
Lee
Soon Jin
SJ
Lim
Jae Hoon
JH
Kim
Seung Hoon
SH
Lee
Won Jae
WJ
Lee
Jun Haeng
JH
Kim
Young-Ho
YH
Rhee
Poong-Lyul
PL
Kim
Jae J
JJ
Ko
Young Hyeh
YH
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005743:Gastrectomy; D005753:Gastric Mucosa / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D018442:Lymphoma, B-Cell, Marginal Zone / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed