Analysis of computed tomography and pathological observations of non-Hodgkin lymphomas with peritoneal, omental and mesenteric involvement

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the association between computed tomography (CT) images and the pathological observations of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) patients with peritoneal, omental and mesenteric involvement. In total, 26 patients suffering from an NHL with peritoneal, omental or mesenteric involvement were reviewed retrospectively, and the observed CT scan characteristics were analyzed. In addition, associations among the CT scan characteristics and the NHL subtypes, including diffuse large B-cell, mantle cell, follicular cell and T-cell lymphoma, were evaluated. The CT scan characteristics of the NHLs with peritoneal, omental and mesenteric involvement included peritoneal cord-like thickening, peritoneal omental nodular and swelling thickening, omental cake-like thickening and mesenteric mass. The probability of peritoneal linear, omental nodular and swelling thickening was found to be higher in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma cases compared with cases of other NHL subtypes (P<0.05). However, the probability of omental cake-like thickening and mesenteric mass was not found to be significantly different among the NHL subtypes (P>0.05). Signs of peritoneal, omental and mesenteric involvement were observed in the CT scans of all the NHL subtypes, particularly in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma cases. Therefore, linear, omental nodular and swelling thickening were characteristic of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, while omental cake-like thickening and mesenteric mass were observed in all NHL subtypes.