Primary splenic lymphoma masquerading as splenic abscess: A rare case

The incidence of primary splenic lymphoma (PSL) is <1%. Here we report a case of PSL in a 63-year-old female patient who had fever, night sweats, anorexia, and weight loss for 2 months. Abdominal contrast-enhanced computed tomography showed mild splenomegaly with multiple patchily enhancing splenic space occupying lesions (SOLs) along with multiple enlarged splenic hilar lymph nodes. A provisional diagnosis of splenic abscesses was made. Following splenectomy, histopathological examination and immunohistochemical analysis revealed this to be a case of splenic non-Hodgkin lymphoma - diffuse large B-cell - nongerminal center type. This case is significant since it was misdiagnosed as splenic abscess initially. Even though, PSL is an extremely rare tumor, this entity must be borne in mind when splenic SOL is detected radiologically. Documentation of such rare cases is of utmost importance to facilitate early diagnosis and treatment of similar cases in the future.