Latent Epstein-Barr virus infection is frequently detected in subcutaneous lymphoma associated with hemophagocytosis but not in nonfatal cytophagic histiocytic panniculitis.

We read with interest the article by Monterroso et al 1 in a recent issue of theArchives. The authors described a patient with subcutaneous lymphoma who tested negative for Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and stated that the majority of evidence to date suggests that cases of subcutaneous panniculitic T-cell lymphoma, many of which resemble cytophagic histiocytic panniculitis (CHP), are negative for EBV. As the opposite example, the authors referred to our previous report 2 of a case of T-cell lymphoma with features of CHP, in which DNA for EBV was detected by polymerase chain reaction. An in situ hybridization study performed after publication revealed that our patient tested positive for EBV-encoded small RNAs in most infiltrating atypical cells ( Figure ). Furthermore, our screening test in 74 patients with lymphoproliferative disorders disclosed at least 2 additional cases of fatal subcutaneous lymphoma characterized by hemophagocytosis and latent EBV infection ( Table ). Cells with EBV-encoded