Simultaneous occurrence of Hodgkin's disease and chronic lymphocyte leukemia: a unique presentation

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a chronic, low-grade hematologic malignancy that can transform to a large cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (Richter's syndrome), which is associated with an unfavorable prognosis. A distinct Hodgkin's disease subgroup of lymphomatous CLL transformation has been well characterized. We describe a patient presenting with simultaneous manifestations of CLL and Hodgkin's disease. This patient is unique, presenting with separate sites of involvement of each disease within the same organ, in this case the bone marrow. The morphologic and immunohistochemical findings at diagnosis are correlated with the findings of the postmortem examination.