Hodgkin's disease presenting with superficial lymph nodes and tumors of the scalp.

Invasion of the skin by malignant cells in Hodgkin's disease is a rare occurrence and less common than skin involvement in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. We describe a 36-year-old man with Hodgkin's disease who presented with superficial lymph nodes and tumors on the scalp as initial clinical findings. Biopsy of a tumor of the scalp showed a diffuse dermal infiltrate composed of polynuclear neutrophils and eosinophils, large lymphocytes, and Sternberg-Reed cells. Ultrastructural examination of the skin biopsy specimens demonstrated the characteristic morphology of the Sternberg-Reed cells.