Undifferentiated lymphoma, non-Burkitt's type. Meningeal and bone marrow involvement in children.

Among 30 children with undifferentiated lymphoma, non-Burkitt's type, bone marrow involvement occurred in 21 (70%). Ten of the 21 (48%) children with bone marrow change also developed meningeal involvement. None of the nine patients whose bone marrow remained normal showed meningeal change. Ten of 11 (91%) children with mediastinal presentations developed bone marrow involvement. None of the six children with small-bowel presentations developed bone marrow or meningeal involvement. Children with both bone marrow and meningeal involvement experienced significantly longer survival than children whose bone marrow remained normal ( P =.01); these children also had a better median survival time than children developing bone marrow change without meningeal disease (10 months vs 3.5 months). Lymphomatous meningitis was not uniformly associated with advanced disease or with an immediately grave prognosis.