Atypical erysipelas caused by group G streptococci in a patient with cured Hodgkin's disease.

Erysipelas developed in a young woman whose condition had been in remission for ten years after treatment of stage IIIA Hodgkin's disease. The erysipelas was atypical both in its clinical manifestation and its causative organism. The patient had an erythematous, macular eruption on both buttocks and thighs. Group G streptococci, a rare cause of erysipelas, were isolated from both blood cultures and a skin biopsy specimen. The unusual clinical manifestation of the disease when the patient was initially seen may have been the result of a group G streptococcal bacteremia, coupled with impairment of the lymphatic drainage of the involved area from a partial thoracic duct obstruction and a restrictive cardiomyopathy, both secondary to previous irradiation treatment.