Rectal Burkitt Lymphoma In A Patient With Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome

Patients with advanced stages of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection are at increased risk for developing various opportunistic infections and malignancies. After the appearance of HIV, the overall incidence of HIV-related high-grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma, including Burkitt lymphoma, dramatically increased. Although the advent of highly active antiretroviral therapy has decreased the incidence of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)-related malignancy, it is of critical importance for clinicians to recognize unusual clinical features of aggressive lymphoma in the presence of HIV. Burkitt lymphoma may present with a bulky mass causing obstructive pathology in the abdomen or pelvis in HIV-infected individuals. In this report, we describe bulky rectal Burkitt lymphoma in a patient with AIDS who developed severe rectal pain and ureteral obstruction to heighten awareness of this aggressive form of AIDS-defining lymphoma.