Introduction: Identifying tumor infiltration or compression in patients with non-Hodgkin's malignant lymphoma presenting peripheral neuropathy can be a difficult task.
Methods: We collected a series of patients with peripheral neuropathy with demonstrated lymphomatous infiltration or compression managed between October 1977 and October 2001 to search for clinico-pathological correlations.
Results: Ten cases were reviewed. Neurological manifestations were the inaugural symptom of the disease in 7 patients. Clinical presentations included 5 focal (3 cranial nerve palsies, 2 brachial radiculopathies) and 5 diffuse neuropathies (3 polyradiculoneuropathies, 1 polyneuropathy and 1 mononeuritis multiplex). The mechanisms of peripheral nerve involvement were classified into lymphomatous meningoradiculitis (5 cases), involvement of cranial nerves or spinal roots in their extraneuraxial course (3 cases) and infiltration of distal peripheral nerves (2 cases). Four long lasting survivals after treatment were observed.
Conclusions: Prognosis depends much more on the haematological disease than on the neurological symptoms or tumor location.