PARVOVIRUS B19-ASSOCIATED TRANSIENT PURE RED-CELL APLASIA WITH LYMPHADENOPATHY - A CASE-REPORT

There have been few reports on lymph node swelling in human parvovirus (HPV) B19 infection. A report of a 42-year-old female, who developed HPV B19-associated transient: red cell aplasia with lymphadenopathy, i s presented. The lymph node swelling began with the appearance of atyp ical lymphocytes in the peripheral blood and it disappeared as the pat ient recovered from the aplasia. Microscopically, the patient's bone m arrow showed characteristic giant pro erythroblasts with no maturation of the erythroid series. An excised inguinal lymph node showed florid , reactive follicular hyperplasia with paracortex expansion, and neutr ophil infiltration and hemophagocytosis in the medullary sinus. These findings were compatible with the histology of a viral infection. A po lymerase chain reaction study revealed HPV B19 in her serum and lymph node, but an immunohistochemic:al study failed to demonstrate HPV B19 capsid antigen in the lymph node or bone marrow. Although the present case suggests that reactive lymphadenopathy is associated with HPV B19 infection, the mechanism of the lymph node swelling still remains to be elucidated.