Two cases of lymphomatoid papulosis in children

An 8-year-old Japanese boy had a 4-month history of self-healing crops of violaceous, scaling papules and several small indurated areas of erythema on his limbs, buttocks, and trunk. Histologically there was an infiltration of small lymphocytic cells with scattered large atypical cells expressing CD30. Characterization of T-cell receptor gene rearrangement showed monoclonality of the infiltrating cells. The second patient, a 15-year-old Japanese girl, had a 2-week history of self-healing papulovesicular eruptions on her face and limbs. Large CD30+ atypical cells were also noted in the perivascular lymphocytic infiltration. Immunohistochemical studies revealed CD8 expression on almost all CD30+ cells in the second case. In the literature, there have been two reports of children with large CD30+ atypical cells expressing CD8 and two cases expressing CD4, whereas all adult cases reported have had cells expressing only CD4.