Autoimmune Disease-associated Lymphadenopathy with Histological Appearance of T-zone Dysplasiawith Hyperplastic Follicles

Authors: Kojima M.¹; Nakamura S.²; Oyama T.³; Motoori T.⁴; Itoh H.⁵; Yoshida K.⁶; Suchi T.²; Masawa N.¹

Source: Pathology Research and Practice, Volume 197, Number 4, April 2001 , pp. 237-244(8)

Publisher: Urban & Fischer

Abstract:

Autoimmune disease-associated lymphadenopathy shows marked histopathological and clinical diversity. We describe the clinicopathological and immunohistochemical findings of nine cases of autoimmune disease-associated lymphadenopathy, which posed a serious differential diagnostic problem regarding T-zone dysplasia with hyperplastic follicles. There were two males and seven females aged 25 to 65 years (median 37 years). The patients had multicentric lymphadenopathy in association with clinical and laboratory findings suggestive of an “autoimmune disease”. Four patients were diagnosed to have systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and the remaining five patients had antiphospholipid antibody syndrome and Sjögren's syndrome (SS), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), chronic thyroiditis, RA and SS, and SLE and SS, respectively. None of the nine patients developed malignant lymphomas during the follow-up periods from 44 to 225 months (median 103 months). The lesions were characterized by paracortical hyperplasia with prominent vascular proliferation and many lymphoid follicles with germinal centers. The paracortical area usually contained numerous small T-lymphocytes without cytological atypia, accompanied by a variable number of plasma cells, B-immunoblasts, and histiocytes. Polymerase chain reaction analysis demonstrated no clonal rearrangement of the T-cell receptor chain gene in four cases examined, although immunoglobulin heavy chain rearrangement was detected in only one case. These findings suggest that autoimmune disease-associated lymphadenopathy, especially SLE, shares the histological features with T-zone dysplasia with hyperplastic follicles. The nine cases presented here should be differentiated from T-zone lymphoma with follicles and angioimmunoblastic lymphoma with hyperplastic germinal centers. To avoid overdiagnosis and overtreatment, we emphasize the need to turn attention to these clinical and laboratory findings as well as to the morphological features.

Keywords: Autoimmune disease; Systemic lupus erythematosus; Lymph node; T-zone dysplasia with hyperplastic follicles; Hyperimmune reaction

Language: English

Document Type: Original article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1078/0344-0338-00041

Affiliations: 1: First Department of Pathology, Dokkyo University School of Medicine, Mibu, Japan 2: Department of Pathology and Genetics, Aichi Cancer Center Hospital, Nagoya, Japan 3: Second Department of Pathology, Gunma University School of Medicine, Maebashi “Gunma University School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan” 4: Department of Pathology, Kitasato Medical Center Hospital, Kitamoto, Japan 5: Department of Pathology and Clinical Laboratories, Maebashi Red Cross Hospital, Maebashi, Japan 6: Department of Pathology and Clinical Laboratories, Kiryu Welfare General Hospital, Kiryu, Japan

Publication date: 2001-04-01

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• In this Subject: Pathology
• By this author: Kojima M. ;  Nakamura S. ;  Oyama T. ;  Motoori T. ;  Itoh H. ;  Yoshida K. ;  Suchi T. ;  Masawa N.

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