PRIMARY HODGKINS-DISEASE OF THE BONE

A primary extranodal presentation occurs in less than 0.25% of patient s with Hodgkin's disease (HD) and we describe the primary clinicopatho logic findings in a rare case of a 21-year-old female with primary bon y involvement of Hodgkin's disease. The patient presnted with microcyt ic, hypochromic anemia and shoulder pain. The diagnosis of HD (lymphoc yte depleted type) was made by biopsy taken from a lytic lesion in the lateral third of the clavicle. Staging work-up revealed an additional lesion in the ilium, but there was no evidence of lymph node involvem ent. MOPP/ABV (nitrogen mustard, Oncovin, procarbazine, prednisone/adr iamycin, bleomycin, and vinblastine) chemotherapy resulted in complete response lasting, to date, 36 months. To the best of our knowledge, t his is only the second reported case of disseminated primary Hodgkin's disease of the bone and all have had a favourable response to combina tion chemotherapy. A review of the literature is also presented. (C) 1 995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.