Cerebrospinal fluid cytology in a young adult with seizures

Abstract

Involvement of the central nervous system (CNS) by anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) is rare with majority of the reported cases being primary CNS ALCLs. There are very occasional reports of CNS involvement in systemic ALCL. Establishing a diagnosis of CNS infiltration by ALCL, although difficult, carries immense prognostic significance and involves thorough clinical neurological assessment, neuroimaging studies, and cerebrospinal fluid cytology. Herein, we present a case of CNS involvement in a patient with systemic ALCL, diagnosed on CSF cytology complemented by CSF flow cytometry and immunocytochemistry on the cyto-spots.