Mature B-cell lymphoma with acute myelitis as the first presentation: a case report and literature review

BACKGROUND: Lymphomas are malignant tumors of the immune system that arise in lymphoid organs and can impact the central nervous system. However, lymphomas with acute myelitis as the first manifestation are exceedingly rare, and most of them are symptoms of spinal cord damage due to the lack of specificity in their clinical manifestations. The rate of early misdiagnosis is exceedingly high, and the prognosis is dire. Here, we report a case of mature B-cell lymphoma with acute myelitis as the first presentation and review the related literature. CASE PRESENTATION: In this study, We report a case of a 70-year-old male patient with bilateral lower extremity weakness, bowel and bladder dysfunction, and recurrent fever. A paraureteral mass was seen beneath the right kidney on imaging, and the final pathological biopsy revealed: CD20 ( +), mature B-cell tumor, The patient refused to undergo additional tests to ascertain the type of lymphoma and subsequent therapy and asked to be discharged. In mid-November 2020, the patient died. CONCLUSIONS: This case report shows that patients with lymphoma can present with acute myelitis as the first symptom, especially if they have recurrent fever, that conventional treatment for myelitis is ineffective, and that tumors are considered after other causes of myelitis have been ruled out. Furthermore, a focused search for tumor-related evidence, as well as early identification and therapy, may help patients live longer lives.