Sonographic Appearance of Plasmablastic Lymphoma of the Testes

Abstract

Plasmablastic lymphoma (PBL) is a subset of AIDS-related non-Hodgkin lymphoma that typically first presents in the oral cavity although there are cases occurring in the skin, nasopharyx, stomach, lung, and anus.1 Plasmablastic lymphoma accounts for about 2.6% of all human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related lymphomas. 2 In the original report describing PBL, 15 of the 16 oral cavity tumors were in HIV-infected individuals. 3 Plasmablastic lymphoma has morphologic features of large B-cell lymphoma but has minimal or absent expression of the leukocyte common antigen and B-cell antigen CD20. Instead, high levels of plasma cell-associated markers VS38c and CD79a are seen. 3 An association with the Epstein-Bar virus (EBV) is thought to exist in up to 60% of cases. 4 In 2004, Schichman and colleagues 5 described a case of PBL with disease that initially presented in the nasal sinus with recurrence in the testis and bones. Although the sonographic appearance of testicular plasmacytoma and large B-cell lymphoma has been documented previously, the sonographic appearance of PBL of the testis has not been described. 6 This report details the gray scale and Doppler sonographic findings of this entity.