Disturbances in blood flow and 'medicine's greatest imitator'

Abstract

First described in 1959, intravascular lymphoma (IVL) remains one of the most clinically challenging diagnoses due to its diverse and non-specific clinical manifestations and evasiveness in detection by standard investigations. Indeed, IVL deserves the title of 'medicine's greatest imitator'. We highlight a case of IVL where the diagnosis came too late in the clinical course, detected by random skin biopsy. Clinicians should strongly consider this diagnosis in presentations with persistent symptomatology despite appropriate interventions.

Keywords: anasarca; haematology; hypoxic respiratory failure; lymphoma; skin biopsy.