Farrell A M, Stern S C, El-Ghariani K, Frankel A, Woodrow D, Muller B, Cream J J
Department of Dermatology, Churchill Hospital, Oxford, UK.
Clin Exp Dermatol. 1999 Jan;24(1):19-22. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2230.1999.00398.x.
We describe a 69-year-old woman who presented with purpura on the legs. Examination of a blood film revealed a homogenous population of abnormal lymphoid cells with villous projections. The immunophenotype was consistent with a diagnosis of splenic lymphoma with villous lymphocytes (SLVL). A type II (IgM-IgG) cryoglobulin was detected in the serum. Renal biopsy demonstrated a membranoproliferative type I glomerulonephritis with intraluminal IgG and IgM deposits, and a skin biopsy showed a leucocytoclastic vasculitis with outlining of the vessels by IgG and IgM. Vasculitis has been reported in association with a number of haematological malignancies, most frequently with hairy cell leukaemia. To our knowledge this is the first report of SLVL presenting with cryoglobulinaemic vasculitis.
