We report the case history of a 31-year old woman with a rare morphologic f
orm of nodular sclerosing Hodgkin disease (NSHD) termed "syncytiaI variant.
" Its histologic features mimic metastatic carcinoma, thymoma, melanoma, no
n-Hodgkin lymphoma and germ-cell tumor. Antigens expressed on Reed-Sternber
g cells, the hallmark of Hodgkin disease, and other neoplastic cells were s
creened to determine the correct diagnosis. This patient demonstrates the i
mportance of using specific immunohistochemical techniques to clarify the d
iagnosis of NSHD of the "syncytial variant" subtype.