Modern possibilities for the diagnosis of lymphadenopathy in children

Abstract

At present, the questions of differential diagnosis of lymphadenopathy in children become especially urgent. This is due to the tendency to growth of lymphadenopathy of various etiologies. It was found that the differential diagnosis of lymphadenopathy is based on the evaluation of clinical-anamnestic, hematologic, immunological, serological, instrumental (ultrasound, computed tomography), histological and immunohistological data of biopsy material of lymph nodes. A study conducted in 87 children aged 4–18 years who were hospitalized to the Regional Children’s Infectious Clinical Hospital showed that in 68 (78.7 %) patients, lympha­denopathy was a manifestation of infectious or parasitic diseases. Among the most prevalent viral agents, the most frequent one was Epstein-Barr (19.8 %) viral infection and mixed herpesvirus infection (12.6 %). In 7 (8.04 %) patients, the enlargement of lymph nodes was the result of cancer (4 — Hodgkin lymphoma, 3 — non-Hodgkin lymphoma). Conclusions. Viral pathogens predominate in the structure of lymphadenopathy in children. With lymphadenopathy of unidentified etiology, a lymph node biopsy followed by a morphological or immunohistological study is crucial in the final diagnosis.