Circulating Abnormal Cells Detected in a Patient with Immunoblastic Lymphadenopathy

Abstract

An unusual case of immunoblastic lymphadenopathy (IBL) with circulating CD3^-CD4⁺ cells is reported. A lymph node biopsy specimen showed the characteristic features of IBL. Two-color analyses demonstrated that the circulating abnormal cells were CD3^-, CD4⁺, HLA-DR⁺, and CD25^-. Chromosomal analysis revealed unrelated clones in the lymph node. Though 48% of the peripheral blood lymphocytes were abnormal, no clonal rearrangement of the TcR β chain gene was detected in the peripheral blood. This case might point out the possibility that some cases of IBL truly had no TcR gene rearrangement and were dysplasias.
(Internal Medicine 32: 455-458, 1993)