[Cutaneous manifestations of the leukemia-lymphoma of HTLV 1: apropos of 1 case].

Human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is a retrovirus implicated in adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma characterized by proliferation of infected mature auxiliary T-cell lymphocytes. Cutaneous manifestations of T-cell leukemia/lymphoma are inconsistent and variable findings. In some patients, skin lesions are the presenting symptoms that lead to diagnosis and in others they are secondary occurrences. This report describes a case of T-cell leukemia/lymphoma associated with serologically documented HTLV-1 infection in a 27-year-old black man from Surinam. Manifestations were low-grade at the time of diagnosis and became tumor-like at the end stage of the disease. At the time of presentation, examination revealed plaques of infiltrated scaly erythrematous lesions scattered over the entire body. One year later the patient exhibited xerodema and variable-sized subcutaneous tumor-like nodules. This case illustrates the wide range of cutaneous manifestations that can be found in association with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma due to HTLV-1.