title: Long-term pruritus as the initial and sole clinical manifestation of occult Hodgkin's disease.
abstract: Pruritus or itch is a frequent symptom of patients with Hodgkin's disease. It often occurs during the clinical course of the disease and rarely may precede the diagnosis of underlying disease. In this report, we present a 16-year-old patient who had history of generalized pruritus without any skin rash for 4 years before the diagnosis of Hodgkin's disease. Within that period, she had received symptom-oriented medications, with no significant effect. After the first cycle of chemotherapy, her pruritus resolved completely. This case suggests that long-term generalized pruritus may be indicative of a significant underlying problem like Hodgkin's disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Nemazee Hospital, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran. omidvari@sums.ac.ir
authors.forename: Shapour H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Omidvari
authors.forename: Habib Noorani
authors.initials: HN
authors.lastname: Khojasteh
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mohammadianpanah
authors.forename: Ahmad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Monabati
authors.forename: Ahmad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mosalaei
authors.forename: Niloofar
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ahmadloo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D005260:Female; D006689:Hodgkin Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D011537:Pruritus / Q000209:etiology*