title: Primary central nervous system non-Hodgkin lymphoma in childhood presenting as bilateral optic neuritis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Primary central nervous system lymphoma is a very rare condition in pediatric patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  We describe the case of a 10-year old girl who presented with acute bilateral vision impairment. At the time of presentation, the only positive finding was optic disk swelling, and the brain MRI scan was normal. Seventeen months later, she developed a large-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma in the brain, with no evidence of neoplasia elsewhere. Immunodeficiencies and Epstein-Barr virus infection could not be demonstrated. The patient was successfully treated with a combination of cyclophosphamide, etoposide, vincristine, methotrexate, and cytarabine, plus intrathecal chemotherapy. Craniospinal irradiation was not used.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The patient's condition is still in remission 68 months after completing the treatment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This case is the only non-Hodgkin lymphoma with primary central nervous system location treated in our institution in the last 10 years and represents less than 0.5% of our non-Hodgkin lymphoma series. Due to its rare occurrence, not much is known about the clinical features and treatment outcome of primary central nervous system lymphoma in pediatric patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Hospital Infantil de México Federico Gomez, Dr. Marquez Num 162, Colonia Doctores, C.P. 06720, Distrito Federal, México. aurmesan@aol.com
authors.forename: Aurora
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Medina-Sanson
authors.forename: Fernado
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Chico-Ponce de León
authors.forename: María de Lourdes
authors.initials: Mde L
authors.lastname: Cabrera-Muñoz
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gallegos-Castorena
authors.forename: Raul
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Caltenco-Serrano
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Barragán-Pérez
mesh_terms: D016543:Central Nervous System Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D009902:Optic Neuritis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology