Primary Central Nervous System Lymphoma: A Clinicopathological and Cytomorpholgical Study from A Tertiary Care Centre in Chennai, India

Background: The aim of this study was to analyze the clinicopathological and immunohistochemical featuresof primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) cases occurring in Indian patients and also study theutility of the crush smear preparation in intraoperative diagnosis. Materials and
Methods: The immune status,clinical, radiological details, immunohistochemical profile, histopathological findings and cytological features insmear preparation of 32 cases of PCNSL were analyzed. Patients with systemic NHL and skull-base lymphomaswere excluded.
Results: The mean age of our patients was 52 years with a male: female ratio 1:1. A periventricularlocation was found in 62.5% of patients. None of our PCNSL cases were associated with AIDS. All cases exceptone were diffuse large B-cell lymphomas. Intraoperative diagnosis using crush smears allowed correct predictionin 93% of cases.
Conclusions: Our study shows that PCNSL is seen predominantly in immunocompetent patientsin India .The age of presentation is relatively young as compared to the West. Our study also stresses the utilityof crush smear preparation in establishing an intraoperative diagnosis.