Splenic and colorectal Hodgkin’s lymphoma leading to HIV diagnosis

Abstract

Colorectal involvement by Hodgkin’s lymphoma (HL) is rare, with case reports and case series comprising the majority of cases in the literature. Moreover, most of the literature on HL in people living with HIV discusses monitoring for HL in people who already have a known diagnosis of HIV. We present the case of a 45-year-old woman in whom diagnosis of HL in the spleen and large bowel prompts serological testing for HIV. The subsequent HIV positive result raises several interesting points of discussion, including the importance of HIV evaluation as part of pre-treatment workup for HL, the implications of chronological sequence of HIV and HL diagnoses on CD4 count, and the association between EBV and HL in HIV infected individuals.