Practical evaluation of skin lesions in immunosuppressed patients.

Physicians today are seeing many more immunosuppressed patients because of the prevalence of infection with the human immunodeficiency virus, use of chemotherapy for malignancies, and immunosuppressive therapy for patients undergoing organ transplantation. This paper gives many practical tips for the evaluation of skin lesions in these patients. Banal-appearing skin lesions in immunosuppressed patients may represent an unusual infection, a malignancy, or a reactive process. Even common disorders may produce unusual manifestations in such patients. The astute clinician will constantly be alert to the possibilities of combined infections or drug-related eruptions, and will investigate the possibility of an infectious process in patients who appear to have vasculitis or panniculitis.