HODGKIN'S DISEASE AND THYMIC ALYMPHOPLASIA IN A 5-MONTH-OLD INFANT

An infant with Hodgkin9s disease and thymic alymphoplasia is described. The infant died at 5 months of age after an illness clinically characterized by frequent respiratory infections, erythematous rash, oral thrush, and hepatosplenomegaly. The peripheral blood showed severe anemia and lymphopenia; IgG level was very low, and there was no mitosis of peripheral lymphocytes after stimulation with phytohemagglutinin. Autopsy revealed Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, thymic alymphoplasia, and Hodgkin9s lymphoma in lymph nodes, liver, spleen, and lungs. A reovirus type 3 was isolated from the lungs. The association of diseases as rare as Hodgkin9s disease and thymic alymphoplasia suggests a relationship between them. This may consist of either an abnormal susceptibility to oncogenic virus or an inability to destroy mutant cells in an infant with congenital immunologic-deficiency syndrome.