Bilateral Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma of the Temporal Bone: A Rare and Unusual Presentation

Abstract

Primary lymphoma of the temporal bone is an unusual finding in clinical practice and bilateral affection is even more rare. To the best of our knowledge, there are no reports of bilateral primary temporal bone lymphoma without middle ear involvement in the English medical literature so far. We report, for the first time, a case of primary lymphoma involving both temporal bones which presented with left-sided infranuclear facial palsy. A combination of contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) was used to characterize and to map the extent of the lesion, as well as to identify the exact site of facial nerve affection. An excision biopsy and immunohistochemistry revealed diffuse large B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (DLBCL). Whole body fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography-computed tomography study (PET-CT) was performed to stage the disease. The patient was treated with chemotherapy and radiation therapy and is now on regular follow-up. The patient is alive and asymptomatic without disease progression for the last twenty months after initial diagnosis.