Primary Hodgkin's disease of the bone

A primary extranodal presentation occurs in less than 0.25% of patients with Hodgkin's disease (HD) and we describe the primary clinicopathologic findings in a rare case of a 21-year-old female with primary bony involvement of Hodgkin's disease. The patient presented with microcytic, hypochromic anemia and shoulder pain. The diagnosis of HD (lymphocyte depleted type) was made by biopsy taken from a lytic lesion in the lateral third of the clavicle. Staging work-up revealed an additional lesion in the ilium, but there was no evidence of lymph node involvement. MOPP/ABV (nitrogen mustard, Oncovin, procarbazine, prednisone/adriamycin, bleomycin, and vinblastine) chemotherapy resulted in complete response lasting, to date, 36 months. To the best of our knowledge, this is only the second reported case of disseminated primary Hodgkin's disease of the bone and all have had a favourable response to combination chemotherapy. A review of the literature is also presented.