Lymphomatoid papulosis presenting as a rash in a patient with HIV infection

A 43-year-old Malaysian man with well-controlled HIV infection on combination antiretroviral therapy presented with a six-week history of a widespread rash. The patient was otherwise well but was developing new lesions on a daily basis. Referral to Dermatology instigated punch biopsies, which revealed a diagnosis of lymphomatoid papulosis type A. This case highlights the importance of swift referral, especially in cases of spontaneous regression of symptoms, in order to obtain the correct diagnosis. In most patients, this condition tends to be chronic, with its chronicity and benign clinical course setting it apart from cutaneous anaplastic T-cell lymphoma and Hodgkin's disease, which are major entities in the histological differential diagnosis.