Register for email alerts and news feeds:
This journal | BMJ Group
rss
Published 9 June 2009
Cite this as: BMJ Case Reports 2009 [doi:10.1136/bcr.04.2009.1758]
Copyright © 2009 by the BMJ Publishing Group Ltd.

Reminder of important clinical lesson

Post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder in an adolescent masquerading as a complicated primary EBV infection

Heather L Henry1, Conrad Vincent Fernandez2, Gerard Corsten3

1 Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Medicine, 123 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland
2 IWK Health Centre, Pediatrics, 5850 University Avenue, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3K 6R8, Canada
3 IWK Health Centre, ENT, 5850 University Avenue, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3K 6R8, Canada

Correspondence to:
Conrad Vincent Fernandez, conrad.fernandez{at}iwk.nshealth.ca

SUMMARY

This report describes an adolescent girl with primary Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) infection in the setting of intensive immunosuppression for a cardiac transplant. She went on to develop progressive pain, weight loss and night sweats with necrosis of the tonsils over 8 weeks. The clinical impression was initially that of a complicated tonsillitis secondary to immune dysfunction. Biopsy 2 months after first presentation demonstrated diffuse B cell lymphoma consistent with post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD). We present this case to highlight the need for a high degree of clinical suspicion for PTLD in a population of patients who commonly experience primary exposure to EBV.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?

This Article

Services
Google Scholar
PubMed
Topic Collections
Bookmark with

Register for free content

The full text of all Editor's Choice articles and summaries of every article are free without registration

The full text of Images in ... articles are free to registered users

Only fellows can access the full text of case reports (apart from Editor's Choice) -   become a fellow  today, or encourage your institution to, so that together we can grow and develop this resource

Don't forget to sign up for content alerts  so you keep up to date with all the case reports as they are published, and let us know what you think by commenting on the Editor's blog