Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hematopathology
Online ISSN : 1880-9952
Print ISSN : 1346-4280
ISSN-L : 1346-4280
Case Study
Modifications in B-Lymphocyte Number and Phenotype in the Course of Pregnancy in a Woman with Persistent Polyclonal B-Cell Lymphocytosis: A Flow Cytometric Study
Giovanni CarulliEugenio M CianciaPaola SammuriCristiana DomenichiniAntonio AzzaràVirginia OttavianoEdoardo BenedettiMario Petrini
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2015 Volume 55 Issue 2 Pages 77-82

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Abstract

  Persistent polyclonal B-cell lymphocytosis (PPBL) is a rare clinical condition, characterized by a persistent, generally moderate lymphocytosis, generally due to stimulation of central memory B-lymphocytes, and by a moderate increase of polyclonal IgM. In some patients, slight or moderate splenomegaly is observed. A variable percentage of circulating, bone marrow and splenic lymphocytes display an abnormal nucleus (generally bilobated) or are binucleated. The clinical course is benign in most cases and transformation into splenic B-cell lymphoma occurs in few cases. In the current paper we report the first case of pregnancy in PPBL. Our patient became pregnant 18 months after diagnosis. In the course of pregnancy, a marked down-regulation of lymphocytosis (from 6 × 109/L to 2.1 × 109/L) and a decrease in B-lymphocyte number was observed (from 3.6 × 109/L to 1 × 109/L), mainly due to a marked reduction in the percentage and absolute number of central memory B-cells. Such modifications were similar to those described in normal pregnant women. One year after the delivery of a healthy female baby, the number of total lymphocytes and B-lymphocytes showed an inverse behavior, with a new expansion of central memory B-cells. Our case shows that a normal pregnancy can occur in patients with PPBL and that pregnancy can induce marked modifications in B-lymphocyte kinetics and phenotype. [J Clin Exp Hematop 55(1) : 77-82, 2015]

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© 2015 by The Japanese Society for Lymphoreticular Tissue Research
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