Cutaneous relapse in Hodgkin's disease: a case report.
BACKGROUND
Skin involvement in Hodgkin's disease is rare, can be seen in advanced stages of the disease and indicates a poor prognosis.


METHODS
A young male presented with multiple nodular lesions on the chest wall and matted cervical lymph nodes. Aspiration smears from skin lesions showed atypical mononuclear cells with a prominent nucleolus, many lymphocytes and plasma cells. Smears from the lymph nodes showed classical Reed-Sternberg cells in a polymorphous background. The cytologic diagnosis of Hodgkin's lymphoma was entertained and later confirmed on skin biopsy. Past history revealed that the patient had been diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease and treated for it 2 years earlier, but had been lost to follow-up during treatment.


CONCLUSIONS
Cutaneous Hodgkin's disease should always be considered in smears from skin lesions showing atypical mononuclear cells in a polymorphous background, even in the absence of a definitive clinical diagnosis at the time of presentation.
Jain
Shyama
S
Department of Pathology, Maulana Azad Medical College and Associated Hospitals, New Delhi, India. jainshyama@rediffmail.com
Nigam
Sonu
S
Kumar
Neeta
N
Reddy
B S N
BS
D000328:Adult; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D018450:Disease Progression; D004358:Drug Therapy; D006689:Hodgkin Disease / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000473:pathology; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D012008:Recurrence; D012867:Skin / Q000473:pathology*; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary*