The original illustrations of Hodgkin's disease

Abstract

In this report, the illustrations from the original papers on Hodgkin's disease are used to trace its early history. Thomas Hodgkin's report included six cases of his own and a seventh given to him by Robert Carswell, whose beautiful colored pictures of the latter case accompanied Hodgkin's presentation. Early clinical pictures are also presented. The histologic definition of the disease, with its characteristic cell, is traced with drawings from the reports of Greenfield, Sternberg, Reed, and Andrews. Modern histologic and immunocytochemical confirmation (Leu-M1 reactivity) of some of Hodgkin's original cases, preserved at Guy's Hospital, London, UK, are also illustrated. It is concluded that not only did Hodgkin describe cases of Hodgkin's disease that meet present-day criteria, he also included at least one case of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a term that now might be considered a misnomer.