Mahé A, Gessain A, Huerre M, Valensi F, Kéita S, Bobin P
Institut Marchoux, Bamako, République du Mali.
Ann Dermatol Venereol. 1994;121(10):704-9.
The aim of this report is to describe an HIV-2 seropositive patient from Mali who had adult-T cell Leukaemia/Lymphoma associated with HTLV-I infection.
The patient presented with erythroderma and foliate lymphocyte leukaemia. Skin biopsy showed an epidermotropic lymphoma. Tumoural cells expressed a mature T-cell phenotype CD4+/CD25+. High anti-HTLV-I titers and the evidence of monoclonal integration of HTLV-I provirus within circulating lymphoid cells led to the confirmation of HTLV-I as the causal agent in tumour cell transformation. HIV-2 serology was positive.
Sub-Saharan Africa is a vast reservoir of HTLV-I virus with at least 5 million infected persons. Cases of adult-T cell Leukaemia/Lymphoma in Africans are exceptional. Lack of sufficient knowledge of the disease could partially explain this discrepancy. The main differential diagnosis in dermatology is primary T-cell lymphomas of the skin, particularly mycosis fungoides and Sézary syndrome.
