Angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma associated with leukocytosis and lymphocytosis; a case report and systematic review

Angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL) is an uncommon lymphoma arising from follicular T-helper cells. Since this is a rare disease, diagnosis is unfortunately difficult. AITL responds to treatments, therefore by reviewing the characteristics of the available cases, we aimed to classify the available data for in-time diagnosis.

Objectives and data sources: 

A systematic search was performed on PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science to January 5, 2023, to investigate the presence of peripheral blood lymphocytosis and leukocytosis in AITL cases.

Among 129 papers, 41 articles with 46 cases were included. All 41 studies were checked in terms of quality by two independent reviewers using an eight-item Joanna Briggs Institute checklist for case report studies. We also reported a 57-year-old Iranian woman with AITL suspected rash. Complete blood count (CBC) analysis showed a significant lymphocytosis and leukocytosis of 26 and 37.5 × 109 /L, respectively.

In the reviewed cases, male predominance was obvious. Lymphadenopathy was the most seen clinical presentation. Dermal abnormalities were presented in more than half of the patients. The prevalence of blood eosinophilia was also remarkable; CD3 and CD4 were expressed the most and CD7, CD8, CD30, and CD56 the least. Despite treatment, the mortality rate was high. In this systematic review, we tried to provide a complete classified review of all AITL cases with different types of leukocytosis to avoid future miss diagnosis of this rare lymphoma.