[Morphological classification and problems of lymphogranulomatosis (Hodgkin's disease) (author's transl)]

According to the Rye classification, four subtypes of Hodgkin's disease are distinguished: lymphocytic predominance, nodular sclerosis, mixed cellularity, and lymphocytic depletion type. In this order of array prognosis is increasingly unfavourable. The importance of the diagnostically relevant Sternberg-Reed cell is discussed. The fact is emphasized that the diagnosis of Hodgkin's disease cannot be made in the absence of diagnostic Sternberg-Reed cells, but the diagnosis must depend on the picture of the section as a whole. The histological feature of the four subtypes is demonstrated. Finally, problems of subclassification, the different data on frequency of the subtypes, the problematic nosological position of Hodgkin's disease, and the obscure histogenetic origin of Sternberg-Reed cells are discussed.