Oxydase‐Positive Paramyeloblastoma in the So‐Called Lymphoma Syndrome in African Children

Summary and Conclusions The relevant histopathology of the condition hitherto called lymphoma syndrome in African children displays in the vast majority of cases a very primitive, immature type of cell, with fine neutrophilic granules in the cytoplasm, sometimes with lobated nuclei, occasionally multinuclear larger cells, and sometimes with eosinophiles. The first case of a typically oxydase‐positive paramyeloblastoma is presented and briefly described; it was seen in the ovarian metastases of such a tumor in a nine‐year‐old girl in Kampala, Uganda. Apart from the very immature stem cells from either the reticuloendothelial or lymphoid group, the cell elements of such tumors may, in fact, be true myelocytes and myeloblasts, as proved by their oxydase‐positive staining characteristics and pertinent enzyme contents. These view findings combined with the obvious osseous tumor origin confirm that the term “lymphoma syndrome” is a misnomer, and that the entire concept of the complex pathogenesis shoidd be thoroughly reassessed .