Progresivna multifokalna levkoencefalopatija po rituksimabu pri bolniku z recidivnim limfomom plaščnih celic v popolni remisiji

Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) is a rare and usually fatal demyelinating disease of the brain that is developed almost exclusively in patients with immunodeficiency and is a result of a latent infection with the JC polyomavirus. In recent years, several cases of PML have been reported following rituximab therapy. We present our first confirmed case of PML in a 55-year-old HIV-negative patient with a relapsed mantle cell lymphoma who was treated successfully with chemotherapy, rituximab and autologous transplantation of peripheral haematopoietic stem cells (PHSC). By reporting this case we wish to draw attention to the importance of PML in differential diagnosis of patients with a progressing neurological symptoms and immunodeficiency following lymphoma treatment with rituximab and stress the importance of early detection of this disease with evidence of JC virus infection in the cerebrospinal fluid or stereotactic brain biopsy sample.