Follicular Hyperplasia

One of the most common causes of enlarged lymph nodes is due primarily to an increase in the number of B cells, which become bigger and proliferate rapidly (but controlled) forming follicular centers (also called germinal centers) and sometimes mimicking B-cell lymphomas, the most common type of lymphoma. For this reason, I am illustrating a typical benign reactive "follicular hyperplasia" that is often the source of confusion and can be mistaken for a B-cell lymphoma.