Clinical features of AIDS patients with Hodgkin’s lymphoma with isolated bone marrow involvement: report of 12 cases at a single institution

OBJECTIVE To study the main clinical and histopathological features of 12 patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) diagnosed primarily from bone marrow (BM) involvement. METHODS We included 12 acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) patients with HL assisted in the F. J. Muñiz Infectious Diseases Hospital since January 2002 to December 2013. The diagnosis of HL with primary BM involvement in patients was confirmed by clinical, histopathological, and immunohistochemical findings. RESULTS All patients presented "B" symptoms and pancytopenia. All of them had stage IV neoplasm disease because of BM infiltration. The median of CD4(+) T-cell counts was 114 cells/μL, and mixed cellularity (MC) was the most frequent histopathological subtype of 92% cases. CONCLUSION When other causes are excluded, BM biopsy should be performed in AIDS patients with "B" symptoms and pancytopenia to evaluate BM infiltration by atypical lymphocytes.