Soft Tissue Anaplastic Large T-Cell Lymphoma Associated with a Metallic Orthopedic Implant: Case Report and Review of the Current Literature

On occasion, the placement of orthopedic prosthetic components or stabilization hardware leads to surgical site infections, in some cases presenting at a point in time distant from the surgical procedure. Although infectious complications are the most common etiology for surgical site pain and inflammation, malignancies can also develop around prosthetic devices and metallic implants. When encountered, such malignancies are most often sarcoma, but rarely B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma has also been described. In this article, we describe what we believe to be the first published case of anaplastic large T-cell lymphoma associated with a stainless steel fixation plate that was implanted several years earlier for repair of a tibial fracture. Appropriate to this case, we review the medical literature on the association of orthopedic implants with the development of neoplasm, along with the theorized pathogenic mechanisms leading to such an association. (C) 2010 by the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons. All rights reserved.