title: Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis in association with primary cutaneous anaplastic large cell lymphoma.
abstract: Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) has a well known association with lymphomas, especially of T cell origin. Prognosis of lymphoma associated HLH is very poor, especially in T cell lymphomas; and, therefore, early diagnosis might alter the outcome. Though association of HLH with systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) is known, its occurrence in primary cutaneous ALCL (C-ALCL) is distinctly rare. We aim to describe a case of C-ALCL (anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-) in an elderly male who succumbed to the complication of associated HLH, which was possibly triggered by coexistent virus infection. We briefly present the literatures on lymphoma associated HLH and discuss the histopathological differentials of cutaneous CD30+ lymphoproliferative disorders. We do suggest that HLH may pose diagnostic challenges in the evaluation of an underlying lymphoma and hence warrants proper evaluation for the underlying etiologies and/or triggering factors.
authors.affiliation: Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences, Ganapathichettikulam, Pondicherry 605014, India.
authors.forename: Aneesh
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Basheer
authors.affiliation: Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences, Ganapathichettikulam, Pondicherry 605014, India.
authors.forename: Somanath
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Padhi
authors.affiliation: Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences, Ganapathichettikulam, Pondicherry 605014, India.
authors.forename: Ramesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nagarajan
authors.affiliation: Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences, Ganapathichettikulam, Pondicherry 605014, India.
authors.forename: Vinoth
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Boopathy
authors.affiliation: Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences, Ganapathichettikulam, Pondicherry 605014, India.
authors.forename: Sudhagar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mookkappan
authors.affiliation: Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences, Ganapathichettikulam, Pondicherry 605014, India.
authors.forename: Nayyar
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Iqbal