The Lymphoid Variant of Hypereosinophilic Syndrome: Study of 21 Patients With CD3-CD4+ Aberrant T-Cell Phenotype

The CD3-CD4+ aberrant T-cell phenotype is the most described in the lymphoid variant of hypereosinophilic syndrome (L-HES), a rare form of HES. Only a few cases have been reported, and data for these patients are scarce. To describe characteristics and outcome of CD3-CD4+ L-HES patients, we conducted a national multicentric retrospective study in the French Eosinophil Network. All patients who met the recent criteria of hypereosinophilia (HE) or HES and who had a persistent CD3-CD4+ T-cell subset on blood T-cell phenotyping were included. Clinical and laboratory data were retrospectively collected by chart review. CD3-CD4+ L-HES was diagnosed in 21 patients (13 females, median age 42 years [range, 5–75 yr]). Half (48%) had a history of atopic manifestations. Clinical manifestations were dermatologic (81%), superficial adenopathy (62%), rheumatologic (29%), gastrointestinal (24%), pulmonary (19%), neurologic (10%), and cardiovascular (5%). The median absolute CD3-CD4+ T-cell count was 0.35 G/L (range, 0.01–28.3), with a clonal TCRγδ rearrangement in 76% of patients. The mean follow-up duration after HES diagnosis was 6.9 ± 5.1 years. All patients treated with oral corticosteroids (CS) (n = 18) obtained remission, but 16 required CS-sparing treatments. One patient had a T-cell lymphoma 8 years after diagnosis, and 3 deaths occurred during follow-up. In conclusion, clinical manifestations related to CD3-CD4+ T cell-associated L-HES are not limited to skin, and can involve all tissue or organs affected in other types of HE. Contrary to FIP1L1-PDGFRA chronic eosinophilic leukemia patients, CS are always effective in these patients, but CS-sparing treatments are frequently needed. The occurrence of T-cell lymphoma, although rare in our cohort, remains a major concern during follow-up.