Remote effect of malignancy on the nervous system in children.
A 13-year-old boy with Hodgkin's disease developed acute polyneuropathy and autoimmune hemolytic anemia. Sural nerve biopsy and postmortem examination demonstrated no metastatic involvement and a lack of cellular inflammatory infiltration in the nervous system. There was significant axonal degeneration in peripheral nerves and the dorsal funiculus. These findings suggest a non-metastatic polyneuropathy associated with Hodgkin's disease, and similar cases, predominantly in adult patients, have been reported. This case emphasizes the occurrence of a paraneoplastic syndrome in children, though such syndromes appear to be rare compared with adults.
D000293:Adolescent; D006689:Hodgkin Disease / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009410:Nerve Degeneration; D009413:Nerve Fibers, Myelinated / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000473:pathology; D013497:Sural Nerve / Q000473:pathology