Medline ® Abstracts for References 92-95

Three patients with acute febrile neutrophilic dermatosis (AFND, Sweet's syndrome) in association with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are described and, in addition, another 10 published cases are reviewed. In the reviewed patients the male/female ratio is 2:1. The great majority of the patients had decreased or normal leucocyte counts at the time the syndrome developed. Chromosome analysis was available in eight cases: in three the karyotype was normal while five patients had a clonal abnormality. No clinical or laboratory parameters seemed to predict the response to steroids: all but one of the treated patients responded promptly. Moreover, three patients recovered spontaneously. Shortly after the appearance of Sweet's syndrome nine patients developed acute leukaemia and one patient died with hypoplasia. Development of Sweet's syndrome in association with MDS may not be an uncommon clinical finding. The occasional MDS patient developing AFND will often progress into acute leukaemia and thus the occurrence of AFND warrants a bone marrow examination and close follow-up of the patient.

Sweet's syndrome is an acute febrile neutrophilic dermatosis in which approximately 20% of the reported patients have an associated cancer. We review the 79 patients with malignancy-associated Sweet's syndrome documented in the world literature. The most common underlying neoplasm was acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). Lymphomas, chronic leukemias, myelomas, myelodysplastic syndromes, and a variety of solid tumors have also been observed. The onset of Sweet's syndrome either preceded or coincided with the discovery of a previously undiagnosed cancer in greater than 60% of malignancy-associated Sweet's syndrome patients. In contrast to patients with the idiopathic form of the disease, those with a malignancy often presented with more severe cutaneous lesions, cytopenias, and/or immature cells in the peripheral blood. Extracutaneous sites of involvement included the eyes, muscles and joints, kidneys, lungs, and liver. All the manifestations of Sweet's syndrome improved dramatically with corticosteroid therapy, regardless of the response of the associated neoplasm to tumor-directed therapy.

The clinical course of a 56-year-old female patient with Sweet's syndrome (SS) preceded by a myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) is described. During the acute phase of the disease with high remittent fever, painful skin lesions and maximal leucocytosis IL-6 and G-CSF serum levels were extremely high, while TNF-alpha was only slightly elevated and gamma-interferon and IL1-beta were not increased. On clinical improvement IL-6 serum levels rapidly fell, whereas G-CSF values already slightly elevated before the manifestation of the disease slowly declined. High G-CSF levels triggered by a yet unknown factor could explain the leucocytosis, neutrophilic dermatosis and skin lesions in SS, while IL-6 probably induced the associated clinical symptoms of fever and pain.

BACKGROUND: Sweet syndrome is an acute neutrophilic dermatosis that occurs with malignant diseases, mainly myeloid hemopathies, in about 20% of cases. When associated with myelodysplasia, Sweet syndrome may be clinically atypical. It can be histologically unusual. Concomitant infiltration of mature neutrophils and immature myeloid cells has been reported, and its significance is still debated. In few patients, lymphocytic infiltrates are the presenting feature of Sweet syndrome with myelodysplasia.

OBSERVATIONS: We present 9 male adult patients with chronic Sweet syndrome, all with recurrent eruptions of erythematous and annular plaques that were associated with relapsing polychondritis in 4 of the 9 patients. Results from sequential biopsies showed that infiltrates were initially composed of lymphocytes and that neutrophilic dermal infiltration typical of Sweet syndrome occurred 24 to 96 months later, except in 2 cases. Moreover, atypical mononuclear cells were present on all initial biopsy specimens and strongly reacted to CD68 and myeloperoxidase, indicating a myeloid origin. Myelodysplastic syndrome occurred in all 9 patients, concomitantly with the neutrophilic infiltrate in 4 cases.

CONCLUSIONS: Lymphocytic infiltrates with a clinical aspect of Sweet syndrome might represent the initial stage of a cutaneous dysgranulopoiesis syndrome and should lead to the research of atypical myeloid cells in skin infiltrate, blood, and bone marrow for the early detection of an associated myelodysplastic syndrome.