Central nervous system Hodgkin's disease relapsing with eosinophilic pleocytosis

Case Report: Cryptococcal eosinophilic meningitis in a patient with Hodgkin lymphoma

Cryptococcal meningitis is the most common fungal meningitis in clinical practice. It primarily occurs in immunocompromised people and is typically associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. In rare cases, it is associated with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). Eosinophilic meningitis (EM) is characterized by increased eosinophils in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and is often caused by a parasitic infection of the central nervous system (CNS). EM caused by cryptococcal infection is rare; only four cases have been reported in the past 30 years. Here, we report a case of cryptococcal meningitis in a patient with HL who presented with an atypical eosinophil-predominant CSF cytology response. The patient's eosinophil proportion reached 91%; a proportion this high has not been reported previously and may be associated with HL. After antifungal therapy and tumor chemotherapy, the proportion of eosinophils decreased significantly. This case shows that cryptococcal meningitis and HL may be simultaneously contributing to CSF eosinophilia. HL should be considered in patients with eosinophilic cryptococcal meningitis and multiple adenopathies.

A rare presentation of central nervous system in a pediatric patient with Hodgkin disease: cavernous sinus syndrome

Intracranial involvement by Hodgkin disease is rare. We report a pediatric patient with Hodgkin disease who had intracranial disease at presentation. The patient was referred to our hospital with a suspicion of central nervous system tumor. Although the most common presenting feature of intracranial Hodgkin disease is cranial nerve palsy with brain parenchyma being the most common intracranial site of involvement, to our best knowledge no pediatric case of Hodgkin disease presented with isolated cavernous sinus syndrome reported. We report this rare case because of its unusual presentation, in which Hodgkin disease presented with cavernous sinus syndrome. Physicians should consider the probability of Hodgkin disease in children of all ages who present with cavernous sinus syndrome.

Intracranial Hodgkin's disease in two patients with familial Hodgkin's disease

Intracranial Hodgkin's disease is very rare and is often a terminal event. The case of a 33-year-old man who relapsed in the anterior pituitary gland without other evidence of disease 6 months after extended field radiation therapy for Stage IIA Hodgkin's disease is presented. He remains well with no evidence of disease five years after surgery and chemotherapy for intracranial relapse. The case of a 16-year-old boy with a dural relapse of Hodgkin's disease associated with positive cerebrospinal fluid cytology is also presented. These two patients are members of different families each with multiple cases of Hodgkin's disease. Central nervous system involvement with Hodgkin's disease may be more frequent in familial Hodgkin's disease in which immune deficiency is common.