TRANSIENT ADULT T-CELL LEUKEMIA LYMPHOMA PICTURE DURING VARICELLA INFECTION IN AN HTLV-1 CARRIER/

HTLV-1 (human T-lymphotropic virus type I)is associated with tropical spastic paraparesis, adult T-cell lymphoma (ATL), and also with opport unistic infections. The risk for developing ATL in HTLV-1 healthy carr iers is low, between 1 and 4%. Nothing is known about the events promo ting the evolution from the healthy carrier state to symptomatic ATL. We describe the case of a 44-year-old French Carribean man with a chro nic and recurrent strongyloidiasis in which the occurrence of a hemorr hagic and necrotic varicella led to the discovery of an infection by H TLV-1 and an acute form of ATL. All hematological data were normal bef ore the onset of varicella. ATL completely disappeared at the same tim e as the varicella healed. This leads us to hypothesize that acute inf ections such as the reactivation of varicella-zoster may act as a prom oting factor for the development of ATL in healthy HTLV-1 carriers.