• DOI:10.1183/09059180.00007509
• Corpus ID: 30985408

Pulmonary Langerhans cell histiocytosis associated with Hodgkin's lymphoma

@article{Feuillet2010PulmonaryLC,
  title={Pulmonary Langerhans cell histiocytosis associated with Hodgkin's lymphoma},
  author={S{\'e}verine Feuillet and L. R. Port Louis and Anne Bergeron and Alice B{\'e}r{\'e}zn{\'e} and M L Dubreuil and Marc Polivka and {\'E}ric Oksenhendler and Abdellatif Tazi},
  journal={European Respiratory Review},
  year={2010},
  volume={19},
  pages={86 - 88}
}

• S. Feuillet, L. Louis, +5 authors A. Tazi
• Published 1 March 2010
• Medicine
• European Respiratory Review

To the Editor:

Adult pulmonary Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a rare disorder of unknown aetiology that occurs predominantly in young smokers with a peak incidence occurring between 20 to 40 yrs of age. High-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) of the chest is essential for diagnosis and typically shows a combination of nodules and cavitated nodules in addition to thick- and thin-walled cysts. Few case reports of pulmonary LCH following diagnosis of Hodgkin’s lymphoma (HL) have been described in the literature. In all but one case, the radiological description has mainly been based on standard chest radiographs with little attention paid to the smoking habits of these patients.

Here we describe two patients, one who developed pulmonary LCH simultaneously with HL and one who was diagnosed with pulmonary LCH during the follow-up examination for HL. Both of these patients show typical lung HRCT aspects. Interestingly, the two patients were heavy smokers at the time that the pulmonary LCH was diagnosed.

Although it is uncommon, physicians should keep in mind that pulmonary LCH should be considered as a differential diagnosis in the setting of diffuse cavitated nodules in patients with a history of HL.

The first case involved a 36-yr-old HIV-positive male who presented with symptoms including fever, weight loss, night sweats and enlarged peripheral lymph nodes in March 2003. Total body computed tomography (CT) revealed the presence of mediastinal and abdominal lymph nodes. A diagnosis of Hodgkin’s lymphoma (HL) was established using a bone marrow biopsy, and the disease was classified as stage IV Bb. No pulmonary abnormalities were noted upon analysis of the …