Epstein-Barr virus-related primary cutaneous amyloidosis. Successful treatment with acyclovir and interferon-alpha.

Abstract

Cutaneous lesions related to chronic active Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection have been rarely documented in immunocompetent patients. A 30-year-old woman, fulfilling the diagnostic criteria for the chronic fatigue syndrome, had a 10-year history of pruritic brownish macules and papules on her chest and back. Her EBV serology was abnormal; the EBV genome was present in the epidermis of lesions, in oral secretions, and in peripheral mononuclear cells (PMC). Her blood lymphocytes spontaneously outgrew in culture. Histology revealed deposits of amyloid in the papillary dermis. Treatment with acyclovir and interferon-alpha rapidly improved her condition, stopped the lymphocyte outgrowth in culture, and reduced the EBV DNA content in oral secretions and in PMC. These data support an endogenous reactivation of EBV infection and suggest a causal relationship with primary amyloidosis.