[Malignant lymphoma with "hairy" lymphocytes in the blood and splenomegaly--a new variant of lymphoproliferative diseases].

A total of 5 patients with a clinicohematological picture resembling hairy-cell leukemia (HCL) have been described. However, the morphological features of leukemic lymphocytes, the absence of acid phosphatase in them, the nodular character of the bone marrow lesion combined with an unusual phenotype have permitted the authors to distinguish these cases as a separate variant of B-cell malignant lymphoma. Paraprotein (M-class) was detected in the blood of two of the patients. A conclusion has been made that the combination of splenomegaly with hairy lymphocytes in the blood is characteristic of not only HCL, but it can be also observed in different variants of malignant lymphoma.