Epstein-Barr virus-associated T-lymphoproliferative disease with hemophagocytic syndrome, followed by fatal intestinal B lymphoma in a young adult female with WHIM syndrome

Abstract

A rare association of Epstein-Barr virus-associated T- and B-lymphoproliferative disease (EBV⁺ T- and EBV⁺ B-LPD) in a patient with WHIM (warts, hypogammaglobulinemia, infections, and myelokathexis) syndrome is reported. A 26-year-old Japanese female, who had been treated for WHIM syndrome since early childhood, developed hemophagocytic syndrome associated with EBV⁺ T-LPD at the lymph nodes and spleen. The disease rapidly resolved in response to prednisolone therapy. However, 6 weeks later, fatal EBV⁺ B lymphoma unresponsive to chemotherapy occurred in the intestine and other organs. Caution must be exercised that the patient with WHIM syndrome may be at risk for EBV-LPD.