Course: Painful Mucosal Ulcerations in a Patient With HIV
CME Credits: 1.00
Released: 2022-06-08
A man in his 40s with a long-standing history of poorly controlled HIV (multiple treatment lapses, viral load of 22,871 copies/mL 8 months prior to presentation but now undetectable with use of highly active antiretroviral therapy, with a CD4 count of 40 cells/mm3) presented to the emergency department with nausea, abdominal pain, bloody stools, odynophagia, and recurrent oral and perianal ulcers and was found to have pancytopenia and septic shock. During admission in the intensive care unit, treatment with broad-spectrum oral antibiotics for presumed infection and oral fluconazole for thrush led to improvement in the patient’s medical condition, but the ulcers persisted. Dermatology was consulted for input on the cause of the ulcers, which had been ongoing for approximately 6 months prior; individual lesions lasted 1 to 3 weeks before self-resolving. Biopsy of an oral mucosal lesion performed 1 month earlier had shown nonspecific inflammation. Examination revealed exquisitely tender, ovoid, punched-out ulcerations of the inferior lip and scrapeable white plaques on the tongue (, A), right buccal mucosa, and external anal mucosa (, B). A punch biopsy from 1 of the perianal ulcers was performed (, C and D).
Educational Objective
Based on this clinical scenario and the accompanying image, understand how to arrive at a correct diagnosis.
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