Article abstract
Haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) in Human Immunodeficiency Virus
(HIV) infected individuals can either be due to the disease itself or due
to associated infections/malignancies. The treatment for HLH requires immunosuppressive
therapy but administering immunosuppressive therapy to an already immunosuppressed
patient (HIV infection) is complex. We present two such cases of HLH in
patients infected with HIV. In the first case, no alternate cause for HLH
was found
even after extensive investigations and it was attributed to the uncontrolled
HIV replication. Patient was started on dexamethasone for the same but
succumbed to hospital acquired pneumonia. The second patient was diagnosed
with Hodgkin's
lymphoma but he succumbed to his illness before initiating immunosuppressive
therapy for HLH. We report these cases to highlight the dilemma and a need
for further research in this direction.