Evaluation of cutaneous angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma.

Background: Angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL) accounts for 18% of peripheral T-cell lymphomas worldwide. Skin involvement occurs in up to 50% of patients but poses a diagnostic dilemma because of the limited number of reported cases and subsequent lack of established diagnostic criteria.
Objective: The purpose of this review is to examine common clinical, histologic, and molecular findings in cases of AITL with the hope of improving the diagnostic accuracy of this challenging condition.
Methods: We present a case of AITL and conducted a review of the literature.
Results: The common clinical and histologic features in cases of AITL are nonspecific. However, newer immunohistochemical stains and gene rearrangement studies appear very promising at improving diagnostic capabilities.
Limitations: There was a paucity of reported cases of AITL in the literature, and this review is retrospective.
Conclusion: AITL presents with nonspecific clinical and histologic findings, but immunohistochemical stains and gene rearrangements can help establish the diagnosis.
(Copyright © 2010 American Academy of Dermatology, Inc. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.)