Primary pulmonary Hodgkin lymphoma--two case reports and a review of the literature

Primary extranodal involvement of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is rare. We report two HL patients presenting with exclusive or predominant lung involvement. In both cases, the results of transbronchial and/or CT-guided lung needle biopsy were indicative of granulomatous disease. Eventually, lymph node biopsy specimens revealed HL with nodular sclerosis type and lymphocyte-rich type, respectively. There were no specific symptoms, laboratory and imaging findings for pulmonary HL. A histological examination was required to confirm the diagnosis. Lung biopsy techniques such as transbronchial or percutaneous biopsy may be insufficient to allow diagnosis of HL. Pulmonary HL should be included in the differential diagnosis of lung involvement, even when the pathological evaluation of nonspecific inflammation was made from the biopsied specimens.