A patient presenting with generalised lympadenopathy--sarcoidosis, lymphoma or tuberculosis?
Sarcoidosis, lymphoma and tuberculosis can often present with similar clinical features - for example, lymphadenopathy, fever, malaise, weight loss, respiratory symptoms, hypercalcaemia - making the establishment of the diagnosis difficult. The authors present a case of a 62-year-old woman with an established diagnosis of sarcoidosis affecting the lymph nodes, who subsequently developed high-grade T cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma; the patient was also treated for active tuberculosis at the same time. This case highlights that these conditions can co-exist and that the occurrence of new and rapidly progressive symptoms in patients with an established diagnosis should alert clinicians to vigilantly search for another possible diagnosis.
Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK. nayiapetousi@doctors.org.uk
Nayia
N
Petousi
Jovin
J
Mathew
Enson C
EC
Thomas
D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000473:pathology; D008206:Lymphatic Diseases / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D016399:Lymphoma, T-Cell / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D012507:Sarcoidosis / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis