Rheumatic manifestations at presentation of Hodgkin's disease and non-Hodgkin's malignant lymphoma. A national survey of one hundred forty-six patients.

The authors report the findings of a national survey conducted at the request of the French Society for Rheumatology to list the rheumatic manifestations that can be inaugural in Hodgkin's disease or non-Hodgkin's malignant lymphoma. This was an exploratory, retrospective, descriptive study of 146 patients from 22 rheumatology departments. A number of clinical features (young male, nocturnal sweats, generalized pruritus, protracted fever, central or peripheral lymphadenopathy) and laboratory test abnormalities (evidence of severe inflammation) considerably increased the likelihood of Hodgkin's disease rather than malignant lymphoma. The diagnosis of bony involvement requires multidisciplinary studies of tumor specimens.

Skeletal involvement as the initial disease manifestation in Hodgkin's disease: a review of 6 cases.

Initial signs of malignant lymphoma are rarely due to bone lesions. We reviewed 6 cases with early skeletal involvement, recently observed in the rheumatology and hematology departments. In 3 patients, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was added to traditional investigations, including radiography, radionuclide bone scan and computerized tomography. We stress the possibility of bone involvement in the clinical onset of malignant lymphoma and the usefulness of early bone assessment using MRI.