Study of infiltration patterns of lymphomas in bone marrow trephine biopsy and immunohistochemical analysis in a tertiary care institute

Abstract

Lymphomas are malignant neoplasms of lymphoid cells present usually as solid mass in the lymphoid organs of the body. They have a tendency to metastasize to different parts of the body and bone marrow is one of the most frequent sites. They infiltrate particular parts of the bone marrow and hence form various different patterns of infiltration. Each lymphoma has its characteristic one or more patterns of infiltration. Recognition of such a pattern can often help in diagnosis of such lymphoma. This was a prospective descriptive study of one year duration enrolling known cases of lymphoma diagnosed in a tertiary care center and subsequently bone marrow trephine biopsy was done and studied for pattern of infiltration. Also immunohistochemistry was applied to differentiate B cell and T cell lymphomas. Paratrabecular pattern was the most common pattern seen solely or in mixed in the majority of the lymphoma cases. Also the frequencies of B cell lymphoma with CD-19 positivity were higher than T cell lymphoma with CD-3 positivity. Recognition of pattern of infiltration especially when no lymphomatous cells are identified on blood and or bone marrow aspiration smears are very helpful in diagnosis of lymphoma.