Ataxia-telangiectasia complicated with Hodgkin's lymphoma: A case report

BACKGROUND Ataxia-telangiectasia (AT) is a rare, autosomal recessive, multisystem disorder. Because most clinicians have low awareness of the disease, only scarce reports of AT exist in the literature, especially of cases with lymphoma/leukemia. CASE SUMMARY A 7-year-old girl with a history of recurrent respiratory tract infections was referred to our department because of unstable walking for 5 years and enlarged neck nodes for 2-mo duration. Physical examination revealed scleral telangiectasia and cerebellar ataxia. Elevated alpha-fetoprotein, decreased serum immunoglobulin, and decreased T cell function were the major findings of laboratory examination. Histological analysis of cervical lymph node biopsy was suggestive of classical Hodgkin's lymphoma. Genetic examination showed heterozygous nucleotide variation of c.6679C>T and heterozygous nucleotide variation of c.5773 delG in the ATM gene; her parents were heterozygotes. The final diagnosis was AT with Hodgkin's lymphoma. CONCLUSION Clinicians should strengthen their understanding of AT diseases. Gene diagnosis plays an important role in its diagnosis and treatment.