CASE REPORT article
Front. Med.
Sec. Pathology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1610820
This article is part of the Research TopicCase Reports in PET Imaging 2024View all 6 articles
Small intestinal NK/T cell lymphoma with malignant peritoneal effusion as the first symptom: a case report and literature review
Provisionally accepted
- 1Second Affiliated Hospital of Jiujiang University, Jiujiang, Hebei Province, China
- 2School of Basic Medicine, Jiujiang University, Jiujiang, Jiangxi Province, China
- 3Jiujiang First People's Hospital, Jiujiang, Jiangxi Province, China
- 4Yangpu Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Introduction: Small intestinal NK/T-cell lymphoma is a rare condition, and cases presenting with malignant peritoneal effusion as the initial symptom are not well-documented. We report a unique case that contributes to the understanding of this rare disease. Case report: A 47-year-old male patient was admitted to the hospital with a chief complaint of abdominal distension and weight loss persisting for over two months. Imaging studies revealed ascites and localized thickening of the small intestine. Paracentesis cytology revealed a significant presence of small-to-medium-sized lymphoid cells. Immunohistochemistry confirmed a diagnosis of T-cell lymphoma. Histological examination confirmed primary NK/T-cell lymphoma of the small intestine after PET-CT excludes metastases from other sites. Despite aggressive chemotherapy, the patient's condition deteriorated, resulting in his death four months later. Discussion: This case highlights the importance of considering small intestinal NK/T-cell lymphoma in patients with abdominal symptoms and malignant peritoneal effusion. The aggressive nature and poor prognosis of this disease pose challenges in diagnosis and treatment. Increased awareness among clinicians and pathologists is crucial for early detection and improved patient outcomes.
Keywords: small intestinal NK/T-cell lymphoma, malignant peritoneal effusion, T-cell lymphoma diagnosis, Treatment, case report
Received: 13 Apr 2025; Accepted: 30 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhou, Zhao, Li, Liu and Hao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Hua Hao, Yangpu Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.