Primary cutaneous Cd30-positive large cell lymphoma masquerading as ecthyma

Abstract

We describe a 45 year-old woman who presented with skin lesions localized on her left leg, highly suggestive of an infectious origin, but further assessment established a diagnosis of primary cutaneous CD30-positive large cell lymphoma. This case emphasizes the importance of taking a biopsy and considering a wide spectrum of diseases in the differential diagnosis of these rarely seen tumors, as a result of their unusual clinical presentation. Primary cutaneous CD30-positive large cell lymphomas (CD30+LCLs) represent a distinct type of cutaneous T-cell lymphomas, presenting with solitary or localized skin lesions with a favorable prognosis1,2. In this paper, a patient with primary cutaneous CD30+LCL, who had previously been erroneously diagnosed as ecthyma is presented.