Primary central nervous system anaplastic large cell lymphoma presenting initially with meningitis

Abstract

Primary or secondary anaplastic large-cell lymphoma (ALCL) is an uncommon type of T-cell lymphoma and is extremely rare.1-3 It was said that only 15-20 cases of primary CNS-ALCLs have been reported in the literature.3 ALCL may present with a variety of symptoms and MRI findings. We report a case of a 10-year-old girl who presented with meningitis and later developed optic neuritis. She was initially diagnosed as tuberculosis meningitis after a positive interferon-γ test. Clinicians should be aware of the unusual clinical behavior of primary central nervous system lymphomas (PCNSL).