Multiple cranial neuropathies: Presenting signs of systemic lymphoma

Abstract

A 58-year-old man four years after orthototic liver transplantation presented with a mental neuropathy, multiple ocular motor nerve palsies, and an upper extremity motor neuropathy. Serial neuroimaging, cerebrospinal fluid analysis, total body computerized tomography and paraesophageal needle biopsy failed to reveal the underlying etiology. Sural nerve biopsy showed endoneurial perivascular infiltration with lymphoid cells, and bone marrow biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of a Burkitt's-type lymphoma. Systemic lymphoma with neural infiltration should be suspected in the immunosuppressed patient who presents with cranial or peripheral neuropathies.