Pulmonary Mucosa-Associated Lymphoid Tissue Lymphoma (P-MALToma) in a Patient with Chronic Pleural Effusion

Pulmonary mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma (P-MALToma) is a rare disease. We presented the case of a 72-year-old woman who was admitted to the hospital because of increasing dyspnea. Her chest roentgenogram revealed left upper lung consolidation complicated with left-side pleural effusion and enlarged right upper lobe consolidation, compared to a chest roentgenogram in 2007. She was diagnosed with lowgrade extranodal marginal zone B cell lymphoma of mucosa-associated tissue of the lung (MALToma) based on results of a pathologic examination. Candida albicans was isolated from her left-side pleural effusion. Atypical lymphocytes with immunocytochemical anti- CD20 positivity were also isolated from her left-side pleural effusion. In tracing the patient's history, we found that the lesions had persisted for many years. Thus, we suggest MALToma is an indolent disease, but that any kind of infection will cause the MALToma condition to deteriorate.