Porphyria cutanea tarda associated with the acquired immune deficiency syndrome

Three male subjects with cutaneous symptoms and biochemical signs typical of porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT) developed acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). All three were in a classic high risk group for the latter disease and developed a typical progressive illness. Two patients succumbed to opportunistic infections; the third is alive but critically ill. The symptomatic prodrome of AIDS developed concurrently with or followed the onset of symptoms of PCT in all three individuals. PCT and AIDS are both uncommon disorders; their association in three patients is thus of inherent clinical interest. If this association is not coincidental, it raises the possibility that the occurrence of photosensitivity, skin lesions, and evidence of biochemical changes characteristic of PCT may, in certain patients at risk for AIDS, presage the subsequent full clinical expression of the latter disease.