Peripheral Lymphadenopathies in Childhood: Experience at a Pediatric Oncology Department in Turkey

Abstract

Introduction: Palpable lymph nodes are very common physical examination findings in childhood, and sometimes it can be challenging to say if it is benign or malignant. Objectives: This retrospective study evaluated 157 children admitted to an oncology department because of lymphadenopathy and aimed to determine the clinical, laboratory, and epidemiologic data valuable for differential diagnosis. Materials and Methods: One hundred fifty-two cases were analyzed, which were defined as either malignant or benign by the etiology. The benign cases were also defined to three groups as ‘viral lymphadenopathy’, ‘bacterial lymphadenopathy’, and ‘other reactive lymphadenopathy’. Results: A specific cause for lymphadenopathy was documented in 61 (40,1%) cases. Of 152 cases, benign causes were detected in 133 (87,5%), and malignant causes were detected in 19 (12,5%) cases. The most frequent cause in the benign group was reactive hyperplasia (59,8%) and in the malignant group was lymphoma (7,3%). A biopsy was performed from 19 of the cases for diagnosis. Malign causes were detected in 12 (58%), and benign causes were detected in the remaining 7 (42%). In terms of differential diagnosis, some symptoms, physical findings, and laboratory tests showed meaningful differences between the case groups Conclusions: The following findings were determined as being important to alert physicians about the probability of a malignant disorder: location of lymphadenopathy, number of associated systemic symptoms, size of lymph node, abnormal laboratory findings, abnormal chest X-ray.