Lymphogranuloma venereum

Lymph nodes - not lymphoma
Infectious / parasitic disorders
Lymphogranuloma venereum

Topic Completed: 1 July 2013

Revised: 4 February 2019, last major update July 2013

Copyright: (c) 2003-2018, PathologyOutlines.com, Inc.

PubMed Search: Lymphogranuloma venereum [title] lymph nodes

Page views in 2019: 1,514

Page views in 2020 to date: 260

Table of Contents

Cite this page: DePond W. Lymphogranuloma venereum . PathologyOutlines.com website. http://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/lymphnodesLGV.html. Accessed February 27th, 2020.

Definition / general

Sexually transmitted disease caused by Chlamydia trachomatis serotypes L1, L2 and L3 (Mod Pathol 1995;8:924, MedlinePlus: Lymphogranuloma venereum [Accessed 3 July 2018], eMedicine: Lymphogranuloma Venereum (LGV) in Emergency Medicine [Accessed 3 July 2018], Wikipedia: Lymphogranuloma venereum [Accessed 3 July 2018])
Endemic in tropical areas, rare in industrialized countries
Outbreaks in Western Europe among male homosexuals (Rev Prat 2005;55:1747), in Bahamas associated with crack cocaine and HIV (Sex Transm Dis 2002;29:253)
Three clinical stages (see references)

Diagnosis

PCR
Previously Frei test (delayed hypersensitivity skin test using "lygranum" chlamydial antigen)

Treatment

Doxycycline for 21 days

Microscopic (histologic) description

Early - tiny necrotic foci with neutrophils
Late - stellate abscesses surrounded by pale epithelioid cells
Abscesses may merge and sinus tracts may develop
Macrophages may have organisms within vacuoles

Microscopic (histologic) images

Images hosted on PathOut server:

Contributed by Dr. Mark R. Wick

Images hosted on other servers:

Site unknown: various images

Electron microscopy description

Elementary and reticulate bodies

Differential diagnosis