Angiocentric lymphoma involving the temporal bone in a child

Involvement of the temporal bone in patients with malignant lymphomas is very rare. Most of the reported cases have been clinically asymptomatic and were diagnosed only by post-mortem examinations. We present a nasal, paranasal, nasopharyngeal lymphoma that occurred in a 12-year-old child and also involved the temporal bone. Clinical presentation began with bilateral chronic otitis media. Histopathologically, tumor was found to be an angiocentric lymphoma of B-cell origin. Association with Epstein-Barr virus could not be demonstrated. Despite combination chemotherapy (with cyclophosphamide, vincristine, doksorubicine, prednisolone, L-asparaginase, cytosine arabinoside, metotraxate) and radiotherapy (to 40 Gy), disease progressed locally as well as to cervical lymph nodes and the lungs.