title: Assessment of lymph node size in hemophiliac children: observer agreement and association with serologic status to human immunodeficiency virus I.
abstract: Lymphadenopathy is an important component of a wide variety of different illnesses including the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome-related conditions. In this study two pairs of observers independently examined the lymph nodes of hemophiliacs younger than 18 years of age to determine the level of agreement of assessments of lymph node mass (the product of the number and mean diameter of lymph nodes). Spearman correlation coefficients for the first and second pairs of observers were 0.75 (P less than 0.001) and 0.66 (P less than 0.005), respectively. The range of lymph node mass was quite different for controls (2.8 to 3.8), human immunodeficiency virus I (HIV)-seronegative hemophiliacs (4 to 5.7) and HIV-seropositive hemophiliacs (10.3 to 15.6). The HIV serologic status could be predicted by lymph node mass. In this group of hemophiliacs, if the lymph node mass was less than 5 cm, the probability of being HIV-seropositive was 0.14. The corresponding probabilities if the lymph node mass was in the range 5 to 9.99, 10 to 14.99, 15 to 19.99 and 20 or greater were 0.33, 0.8, 0.67 and 1.00, respectively. Thus there is adequate agreement between observers in assessing the lymph node mass and there is a direct relationship between lymph node mass and evidence of infection with HIV.
authors.forename: E E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: S E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Read
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zuliani
authors.forename: V S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Blanchette
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000209:etiology; D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D002648:Child; D015483:HIV Antibodies; D006467:Hemophilia A / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D015483:HIV Antibodies