The cutaneous lymphomas with convoluted nucleus. Analysis of thirty-nine cases.

The clinical and histopathologic findings in thirty-nine cases of cutaneous lymphoma characterized by a proliferation of convoluted cells were reviewed. Thirty patients (77%) presented with erythematous or papular lesions (group I). The remaining nine patients (23%) presented with cutaneous nodules or tumors without erythematous lesions (group III). Histologically, the polymorphous infiltration was the common feature in both groups, but the presence of epidermotropism in group I was contrasted to the absence of epidermotropism in group II disease. The patients in group I had a higher median age (54 years) than those in group II (35 years), and a more favorable 3-year survival rate (44%) than that of the latter (19%). An evolution occasionally occurred from the epidermotropic to the nonepidermotropic form, followed by a poor clinical course. When the skin lesions were nonepidermotropic , irrespective of preceding clinical course, the prognosis was poor.