Peritoneal lymphomatosis, a morphological look alike to peritoneal carcinomatosis: an autopsy report
- Royal Blackburn Hospital, Blackburn, UK
- Dr M B Aslam, Royal Blackburn Hospital, Haslingdon Road, Blackburn BB2 3HH, UK; mbaslam{at}yahoo.com
- Accepted 7 October 2008
Peritoneal carcinomatosis is a well recognised term used clinically, pathologically and radiologically. By definition, it means the seeding of the peritoneum with carcinoma cells. The tumour cells appear to be confined to the surface of the coated abdominal viscera without penetration into the deeper substance. Peritoneal lymphomatosis is rarely described in the published pathology literature which, by definition, has the same meaning, except for the replacement of carcinoma cells by lymphoma cells.
I report here a case of peritoneal lymphomatosis as an autopsy finding in a 71-year-old man. The deceased was admitted to the hospital via a GP referral with complaints of abdominal pain, abdominal distension and shortness of breath. On clinical examination, massive ascitic fluid was found. Ascitic fluid was aspirated and sent to microbiology; no micro-organisms were grown. The peritoneal fluid was also sent for cytology; there was a …
