Hodgkin's disease (HD) is not currently accepted as an AIDS diagnostic criterion by the Centers for Disease Control (Atlanta), although there are reports on a higher incidence of the disease in HIV infected patients, with the special feature of a marked clinical and histological aggressiveness. A review of the literature was made and a total of 54 cases of HD compiled of patients with HIV infection. The relationships between the absolute counts of CD4 and the CD4/CD8 ratio with histopathology and with the stage at diagnosis was investigated. No significant differences were found between the absolute counts of CD4 and CD4/CD8 ratio with the clinical stage of disease, histopathologic subgroup or presence of B symptoms in HD. Nevertheless, lower CD4 counts were observed in more advanced clinical stages and in patients with B symptoms; the highest CD4/CD8 ratios were observed in patients with more advanced disease. It is hypothesized that immunological disturbances caused by HIV would lead to more aggressive histological lesions and more advanced stages of HD in HIV-positive patients. Thus, the inclusion of HD as a diagnostic criterion of AIDS would be warranted.