Case report
A patient with primary Burkitt’s lymphoma of the postnasal space: case report
1 Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Chase Farm & Barnet NHS Trust, Enfield, UK
2 Head & Neck Unit, University College London Hospital, London, UK
3 Department of Surgery, School of Dentistry, Al-Yarmouk University College, Baghdad, Iraq
4 Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Unit, AL-Mustansirya University’s, Baghdad, Iraq
5 UCL Department of Surgery, University College London, London, UK
6 Leeds Institute of Molecular Medicine, Leeds, United Kingdom
7 Department of Oral Surgery and Radiology, School of Dentistry, Aristotle University, Thessalonica, Greece
8 Department of Pathology, Charring Cross Hospital, London, UK
9 Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Unit, Royal Medical Services, Amman, Jordan
Head & Neck Oncology 2012, 4:33 doi:10.1186/1758-3284-4-33
Published: 13 June 2012Abstract
Introduction
Burkitt’s lymphoma is a highly aggressive lymphoma. The endemic form is present with Epstein - Barr virus. The most common sites are the mandible, facial bones, kidneys, gastrointestinal tract, ovaries, breast and extra-nodal sites. We present the first reported case of a primary Burkitt’s lymphoma of the postnasal space occurring in an elderly Caucasian male.
Case presentation
A 72-year-old Caucasian male farmer presented with a 6-week history of a productive cough and a painless left sided cervical swelling. Examination of the neck revealed a 5 cm by 5 cm hard mass in the left anterior triangle. A CT scan of the head and neck showed a soft tissue swelling in the postnasal space. Histology of the postnasal space mass showed squamous mucosa infiltrated by a high grade lymphoma.
Immunohistochemical staining and in situ hybridisation confirmed the tumour to be Epstein - Barr virus Ribonucleic acid negative suggesting this was a rare sporadic form of the tumour presenting in a location that is atypical for the clinical subtype and age of the patient.
Conclusion
This is the first reported case of sporadic Burkitt’s lymphoma of the postnasal space of an elderly Caucasian male in the absence of Epstein - Barr virus or human immunodeficiency virus infection and further serves to illustrate the diversity of histological subtypes of malignancies that may develop at this concealed site.
