Evidence Hub

Lymphomatoid hypersensitivity reaction to levofloxacin during autologous stem cell transplantation: a potential diagnostic pitfall in patients treated for lymphoma or leukemia

Esparza EM, Takeshita J, George E

Journal of cutaneous pathology, 2011

Abstract

Drug-associated cutaneous lymphomatoid hypersensitivity reactions are rare eruptions that can clinically and microscopically mimic a bona fide lymphomatous process. Clinically, the appearance ranges from papulosquamous to purpuric. Histopathologically, these reactions simulate a wide variety of lymphoma subtypes; the most frequently reported examples resemble mycosis fungoides. We report a 61-year-old female who developed a purpuric eruption prior to engraftment of an autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplant for stage IV mantle cell lymphoma. Skin biopsies showed a superficial perivascular and interstitial infiltrate of large, immature-appearing mononuclear cells associated with spongiosis, papillary dermal edema and erythrocyte extravasation. The cells were immunoreactive for T-cell markers and lacked B-cell marker expression, excluding recurrence of the underlying mantle cell lymphoma as a diagnostic possibility. The cutaneous eruption was temporally linked to levofloxacin administration and resolved after discontinuation of this medication. This is the first report of a lymphomatoid hypersensitivity reaction associated with fluoroquinolone use. The histopathologic features presented in this paper underscore the potential for misdiagnosis of such lesions as lymphoma or acute myeloid leukemia, particularly in the setting of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for underlying lymphoma or leukemia. Clinical correlation, morphologic comparison to the original…

How strong is the evidence?

Evidence Hub reads this as a case report, done in people. Its evidence level is 5 of 5 (Very low · case / narrative / animal / in vitro / in silico). Case reports, narrative reviews, and animal, cell or computer-model studies give the weakest evidence for human health.

How the five levels of evidence work. The level is assigned automatically from the abstract and can be wrong, so check the paper.

Read the paper

Related studies

Go deeper in Evidence Hub

Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.

Open this study Sign up free