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The article discusses the Safety and diagnostic yield of splenic core biopsy and discusses an approach using combined Haematology/Radiology assessment in a tertiary referral centre. Topics include how the core biopsy of the spleen is performed less often than in other solid organs due to a perceived increased risk of post-procedure haemorrhage.

Positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) scanning has been shown to be more sensitive than bone marrow biopsy (BMB) in detecting bone marrow involvement (BMI) in classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL). In this 5-year retrospective series, 93 (54%) of all new cases of cHL were staged using PET-CT and BMB. PET-CT identified focal bone marrow uptake in 17/93 (18.3%), whilst only five of these (29.4%) were confirmed by BMB. Abnormal pelvic uptake was seen on PET-CT in these five cases. The other 12 cases were missed, giving BMB a sensitivity of 29.4% and a specificity of 100%. PET-CT upstaged 9.7% of patients compared to CT alone. BMB upstaged only one patient; however, this patient was already stage IV on PET-CT. BMB did not alter clinical management in any case. Bone positivity on PET-CT appeared to correlate with anemia, raised lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and B symptoms. BMB has little or nothing to offer staging cHL in the PET-CT era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a case study of a 23-year-old patient with lymphadenopathy which affects his groins and axillae for 12 months. The patient underwent urea and electrolytes, lactate dehydrogenase, and blood count investigation with normal results as well as excision biopsy of a groin node. It was found out that the disease was a reaction from a tattoo pigment that undergone lymphatic migration due to the reaction generated by tattoo inks which are made from iron and mercury compounds.