The Epidemiological Study of Children with Malignant Disorders in the Pediatric Department at Menoufia University Hospital, Menoufia, Egypt during the Last Fifteen Years

Abstract

Background: This study aims to assess the epidemiological, clinical, and paraclinical characteristics and survival of childhood with malignant disorders in the pediatrics department, menoufia University Hospital.
 Methods: A retrospective study with clinical and epidemiological data from patients was conducted on 314 children who attended Pediatric Department, Haematology-Oncology Unit, Menoufia University Hospital during the last fifteen years.
 Results: 314 children were assessed, their ages ranged from 2 months-18 years with mean 5.96±3.79 years. Also, 252 (80.3%) were diagnosed with hematological malignancies, and 62 (19.5%) were diagnosed with solid tumors. Among hematological malignancies, 186 were diagnosed with acute leukemia, 158 (49.7%) with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), and 28 (8.8%) with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The most frequent clinical presentations were fever in 95.24% in hematological malignancies vs 48.4% in solid (p<0.001),, pallor in 92.5% in hematological malignancies vs 69.4% in solid (p<0.001), hepatomegaly in 81.3% in hematological malignancies vs 37.1% in solid (p<0.001),, lymphadenopathy in 77.6 % in hematological malignancies vs 24.2% in solid (p<0.001), and splenomegaly in 76.3% of hematological malignancies vs 12.9% in solid (p<0.001),The majority of the patients 64.15% had white blood cells (WBCs) less than 50,000/mm³, while 35.85% had WBCs more or equal to 50,000/mm³ with significant relation with risk stratification (p=0.001). The survivors who finished their treatment course were 31.8% and the recurence patients were 9%.
 Conclusion: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia is the most frequent childhood hematological neoplasm. Various clinical and laboratory features present at the time of initial diagnosis can predict the likelihood that a patient will remain in remission or not including age: under 1 and over 10 years, gender: male sex, WBCS more than 50,000/mm³ at presentation.