Psoriasis and HIV: Rupioid psoriasis, an uncommon presentation

Human immunodeficiency virus infection may result in the manifestation of severe and atypical cutaneous diseases. Although psoriasis is known to result from an aberrant host immune system, reports have been published observing the presence of this disease in immune compromised patients. Psoriasis also follows an interesting pattern in relation to CD4+ T-cell counts in HIV-positive patients, likely due to a combined variety of factors. Furthermore, treatment of psoriasis in immune compromised patients can be complex, and oftentimes not effective. We present a case of an HIV-positive patient who developed a very rare clinical variant of psoriasis, rupioid psoriasis, and discuss the possible mechanisms behind the development of this autoimmune disease in the setting of immune dysregulation and outline possible treatments for this particular patient population.