EBV-positive Mucocutaneous Ulcer With Small Lymphocytic Infiltration Mimicking Nonspecific Ulceration

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated lymphoproliferative disorder may resemble nonspecific inflammation. We report 3 cases of immunosuppressed adult patients with small lymphocytic EBV ulcers in the skin and oral mucosa, characterized by a lack of atypical lymphocytic infiltration. All 3 cases were diagnosed in routine practice. For comparisons, cases of conventional Epstein-Barr virus-positive mucocutaneous ulcer (EBVMCU) were reviewed which were extracted from our pathology archives (n=11). The present patients were 2 females and 1 male, aged above 70 years. The primary disease was rheumatoid arthritis (n=2) and dermatitis herpetiformis (n=1). The main source of immunosuppression was prednisolone (n=2) and methotrexate (n=1). The ulcers were located in the oral cavity, buttock, and/or external genitalia. Histology evaluation revealed nonspecific lymphocytic infiltration. Epstein-Barr virus-encoded small RNA (EBER)-positive cells were small and coexpressed CD20. The number of EBER-positive cells ranged from 52 to 132/HPF, which was within the range of that observed in the reviewed conventional EBVMCUs (range, 48 to 1328; median, 121). All 3 cases regressed spontaneously or by the reduction of immunosuppressants. Although the present cases lacked cytologic atypia, those clinical course and loads of EBER-positive cells (>50/HPF) suggested EBV involvement. Current cases of EBVMCU with small lymphocytic infiltration underscore the need for EBER in situ hybridization when an etiology of ulcer with predominant lymphocytes in an immunosuppressed patient is unclear.