TITLE:
Clinical and Biological Approach to Peripheral Lymphadenopathy in Adults from a Tertiary Care Centre in Lubumbashi (D. R Congo)
AUTHORS:
Christian Kakisingi, Olivier Mukuku, Michel Manika, Placide Kakoma, Marc Kashal, Véronique Kyabu, Eric Kasamba, Beya Tshikuluila, Emmanuel Muyumba, Claude Mwamba
KEYWORDS:
Superficial Lymphadenopathy, Approach, Sociodemographic Characteristics, Clinical Characteristics, Biological Parameters
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.3 No.7,
July
28,
2016
ABSTRACT:
Introduction: Superficial lymphadenopathy is a frequent reason
for consultation in Internal Medicine. The diagnosis approach even done by a meticulous
clinical examination has to be completed
with investigations such as medical imagery and pathologic study. In low-income countries like Democratic Republic of Congo,
means for proper diagnosis remain hardly accessible for some classes of the society.
Thus, our study aims to describe socio-economic, clinical and biologic parameter that
can give diagnosis orientation in patients with superficial lymphadenopathy as observed
in the department of internal medicine at the University of Lubumbashi Clinics (DR
Congo). Patients, Material and Method: This is a descriptive, transversal study
on superficial lymphadenopathy observed for a period of 24 months from November
2013 to October 2015 at the University of Lubumbashi Clinics. Parameters studied
included gender, age, localization and clinical characteristics of superficial lymphadenopathy; biologic parameters and pathologic diagnosis were
determined by lymph nodes biopsy. Results: 36 patients data were captured and non-Hodgkin
lymphoma is the most frequent pathologic diagnosis (47.20%) followed by reactive
hyperplasia (27.80%) and infectious lymphadenitis (19.40%). Some of the variables
studied presented a significant statistical association and included age ≥ 50 years old (p = 0.0247), inguinal location (p = 0.0053), multifocal location (p = 0.0063), sensible character (p = 0.0391) and leukocytosis (p = 0.0022) for non-Hodgkin lymphoma and variables
like age below 50 years (p = 0.0345), inguinal location (p = 0.0299) and sensible character (p = 0.394) for reactive hyperplasia. Conclusion: The
most frequent aetiology seen in this very is non-Hodgkin lymphoma (47.2%) followed
by lymph node reactive hyperplasia (27.8%) and infectious lymphadenitis. The emergence
of non-communicable diseases
in both developed countries as low income is growing and special emphasis should
be given to this growing scourge. Cancer is one of the most frequent pathologies
and non-Hodgkin lymphoma is one of the
deadliest cancer types. And having epidemioclinic and biological parameters in the
absence of appropriate diagnosis means could contribute to improving the prognosis of lymphadenopathy patients in
low-income countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo.