Etiologies and Clinical Characteristics of Cervical Lymphadenopathy in Children.
- Author:
Tae Hyung HUR
1
;
Yun Jung CHOI
;
Eugene KIM
;
Keun Young LEE
;
Jong Seo YOON
;
Hyun Hee KIM
;
Jin Tack KIM
;
Joon Sung LEE
Author Information
1. Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, the Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea. jslee@catholic.ac.kr
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Cervical lymphadenopathy;
Clinical characteristics;
Etiologies
- MeSH:
Abscess;
Cell Count;
Child;
Fever;
Humans;
Hyperplasia;
Leukopenia;
Lymphadenitis;
Lymphatic Diseases;
Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome;
Physical Examination;
Tuberculosis, Lymph Node
- From:Pediatric Allergy and Respiratory Disease
2009;19(1):38-46
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
PURPOSE:This study was performed to investigate clinical characteristics and the etiology of cervical lymphadenopathy in children. METHODS:A clinical review of 240 cases of children under the age of 18 who were admitted with cervical lymphadenopathy from January 2002 to December 2007. RESULTS:Cervical lymphadenopathy was diagnosed as follows:clinically diagnosed lymphadenitis (52.1%), abscess (15%), necrotizing lymphadenitis (7.9%), reactive hyperplasia (5.4 %), tuberculous lymphadenitis (4.2%), Kawasaki disease (2.9%) and malignancy (2.5%). Abscess was presented as an acute lesion (94.1%) with less than 2 weeks of fever (69.4 %) and tuberculous lymphadenitis was presented as a chronic lesion (62.5%) without fever (90 %). Malignant disease (100%) and necrotizing lymphadenitis (62.5%) were found in chronic lesion of older children with systemic symptoms (40% and 37.5%, respectively). Leukopenia (57.9%) with various duration of fever occured in case of necrotizing lymphadenitis. CONCLUSION:Clinically diagnosed lymphadenitis (52.1%), abscess (15%), necrotizing lymphadenitis (7.9%), reactive hyperplasia (5.4%), tuberculous lymphadenitis (4.2%), Kawasaki disease (2.9%) and malignancy (2.5%) were found in cervical lymphadenopathy. Although cervical lymphadenopathy was commonly caused by a benign infectious process, a more serious disease was not rare, which may have different clinical characteristics including age, duration of fever and disease, previous or accompanying symptoms, or white cell counts. Meticulous combination of clinical characteristics, history, physical examination and workup as well as follow-up may be the most important for the proper approach on cervical lymphadenopathy in children.
