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Primary Hodgkin's lymphomas of the central nervous system (CNS) as well as cerebral involvement as the first manifestation of a systemic Hodgkin's disease are very rare. CNS involvement usually occurs in patients with advanced or relapsing systemic disease. Because primary CNS Hodgkin's lymphoma may present unexpected and sometimes misleading clinical and neuroradiological features, the description of unusual cases is important for expanding the awareness of this rare disease of the central nervous system. We describe three cases of primary Hodgkin's lymphoma of the CNS with peculiar features. None of the three patients had a previous clinical history of systemic Hodgkin disease. Case 1 and case 2 presented an unusual localization in the cerebellar hemisphere and in the brainstem, respectively. The third case occurred as a temporal lesion in the settings of a Richter transformation of a chronic lymphocytic leukemia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]