Almahndr MJ, Barghan S, Kashtwari D, Tahmasbi Arashlow M, Nair MK. Multidetector Computed Tomography Features of Plasmablastic Lymphoma of the Oral Cavity in an HIV-Positive Patient. Int J Dentistry Oral Sci. 2018;5(2):601-605 601 OPEN ACCESS http://scidoc.org/IJDOS.php Multidetector Computed Tomography Features of Plasmablastic Lymphoma of the Oral Cavity in an HIV-Positive Patient Case Report Almahndr MJ 1 , Barghan S 2 , Kashtwari D 2 , Tahmasbi Arashlow M 3 , Nair MK 4* 1 Division of Radiology, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Diagnostic Sciences, College of Dentistry, University of Florida, Center Dr, Gainesville, FL, USA. 2 Clinical Assistant Professor, Division of Radiology, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Diagnostic Sciences, College of Dentistry, University of Florida, Center Dr, Gainesville, FL, USA. 3 Adjunct Assistant Professor, Division of Radiology and the Imaging Center, Department of Diagnostic Sciences, Texas A&M University College of Dentistry, Gaston Ave, Dallas, Texas, USA. 4 Professor and Director, Division of Radiology and the Imaging Center, Department of Diagnostic Sciences, Texas A&M University College of Dentistry, Gaston Ave, Dallas, Texas, USA. International Journal of Dentistry and Oral Science (IJDOS) ISSN: 2377-8075 Introduction Lymphoma is deined as a group of tumors that develop from lymph nodes [1]. Patients with lymphomas may experience fe- ver, weight loss, night sweats, lymphadenopathy, and fatigue [1]. Hodgkin lymphomas (HL) and non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL) are the two primary kinds of lymphoma [2]. Plasmablastic lym- phoma (PBL) is classiied as a distinct entity of B-cell lymphoma in the recent WHO classiication of lymphoid neoplasms [2]. Other names of this variety of lymphoma include anaplastic lymphoma kinase-positive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (ALK- DLBCL), plasmablastic plasmacytoma, and the human herpesvi- rus 8 (HHV8) - related primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) [2]. PBL is considered a rare lymphoma that may present in the oral cavity [3]. It was irst noted by Delecluse et al., in 1997 and is known to have a strong association with human immunodeicien- cy virus (HIV) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infections [4, 5]. Tyrosine kinases also displayed a pathogenic role in lymphomas in which anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) is the most trans- forming gene of the majority of anaplastic large cell lymphomas (ALCL) [6]. The estimated frequency of PBL is about 2.6% of NHL cases with acquired immune deiciency syndrome (AIDS) [7]. 92% of oral PBL cases depicted in the English medical literature were HIV-positive patients [8]. However, PBL is also known to affect *Corresponding Author: Madhu K. Nair, Professor and Director, Division of Radiology and the Imaging Center, Department of Diagnostic Sciences, Texas A&M University College of Dentistry, 3302 Gaston Ave, Dallas, Texas 75246, USA. Tel: (214) 828-8393 Fax: (214)874-4557 E-mail: mknair@tamhsc.edu Received: February 05, 2018 Accepted: February 20, 2018 Published: February 21, 2018 Citation: Almahndr MJ, Barghan S, Kashtwari D, Tahmasbi Arashlow M, Nair MK. Multidetector Computed Tomography Features of Plasmablastic Lymphoma of the Oral Cavity in an HIV-Positive Patient. Int J Dentistry Oral Sci. 2018;5(2):601-605. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.19070/2377-8075-18000117 Copyright: Nair MK © 2018. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Abstract Overview: Plasmablastic lymphoma (PBL) is an uncommon aggressive malignancy that is associated with patients with hu- man immunodeiciency virus (HIV), other immunosuppression conditions, or in elderly patients, that tends to appear in the oral cavity. PBL accounts for 2.6% of all HIV-associated non-Hodgkin lymphomas. Case Report: We describe the case of a chemotherapy-treated patient with HIV-associated plasmablastic lymphoma who presented with a three-month history of left facial swelling. Features seen on different imaging modalities including panoramic and multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) were suggestive of a malignancy and/or an inlammatory lesion. How- ever, histopathological examination revealed an aggressive immunoblastic neoplasm, consistent with AIDS-associated PBL. Conclusion: PBL is hard to diagnose, rapidly progressive, with overall poor prognosis among HIV-infected patients, and often rapidly fatal. The maxillofacial radiologist must be aware of the existence of this relatively newly described lymphoma as it is associated with immunosuppression and may be misdiagnosed as other pathoses. Keywords: Plasmablastic Lymphoma; PBL; HIV; AIDS; Multidetector Computed Tomography.