RHEUMATIC MANIFESTATIONS AT PRESENTATION OF HODGKINS-DISEASE AND NON-HODGKINS MALIGNANT-LYMPHOMA

The authors report the findings of a national survey conducted at the request of the French Society for Rheumatology to list the rheumatic m anifestations that can be inaugural in Hodgkin's disease or non-hodgki n's malignant lymphoma. This was an exploratory, retrospective, descri ptive study of 146 patients from 22 rheumatology departments. A number of clinical features (young male, nocturnal sweats, generalized pruri tus, protracted fever, central or peripheral lymphadenopathy) and labo ratory test abnormalities (evidence of severe inflammation) considerab ly increased the likelihood of Hodgkin's disease rather than malignant lymphoma. The diagnosis of bony involvement requires multidisciplinar y studies of tumor specimens.