A violaceous nodule in a lung-transplant patient

Posttransplantation lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD) is a rare complication of solid organ or allogenic bone marrow transplantation. Cases localized to the skin are even rarer, with only around 100 cases recorded in the literature [2]. We present a case of 60 year-old-woman, a lung transplant recipient, who presented with an asymptomatic violaceous nodule on her left medial calf. Histopathology was consistent with PTLD of the B-cell subtype, EBV negative. This case is unique in that it was of the B cell subtype of cutaneous PTLD, which has been less commonly observed than the T cell subtype. In addition, the case was EBV negative, which is rare in B cell cutaneous PTLD. The patient was treated with rituximab 600 mg IV weekly for four weeks and cytomegalovirus immune globulin (Cytogam) 100 mg/kg once, with resolution of the nodule.