Lymphoblastic lymphoma with convoluted nuclei. A report of 19 cases.

A clinically homogeneous population of patients who presented with lymphoblastic lymphoma of convoluted nuclear type was isolated using a histopathological criterion that can easily be applied by trained pathologists. This disease type preferentially affects young male patients, in over half of whom there is initial mediastinal involvement. There is a tendency for the disease to become leukemic and to invade the central nervous system. In spite of heavy chemotherapy and early neuromeningeal prophylaxis, the prognosis is poor.