Nodular cutaneous B-cell lymphoma of the scalp in the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome

Aggressive B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma frequently complicates human immunodeficiency virus type, 1 infection. Although extranodal disease is an important feature of this condition, the incidence of cutaneous involvement has not been determined. A review of 754 published cases of B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma associated with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 revealed an incidence of cutaneous extranodal involvement of 8.2%, approximately equal to that seen in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma not associated with human immunodeficiency virus. Lymphoma was the initial manifestation of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome in two thirds of these cases. In particular, although the head and neck are commonly involved in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma not associated with human immunodeficiency virus, scalp involvement is uncommon in human inununodeficiency virus-associated B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and we report the second case. The natural history and proposed pathogenesis of human immunodeficiency virus-associated non-Hodgkin's lymphoma are discussed.