[Pseudotumoral diseases: ten years of experience in a pediatric oncology department].
OBJECTIVE
Among the 350 new patients per year treated in the pediatric oncology department of the Gustave-Roussy Institute, about 2% have no tumor. This study analyzes these children presenting a pseudotumoral disease.


METHODS
Ten-year-retrospective study. Patients for which no follow up in oncology was necessary after one consultation or hospitalization were selected.


RESULTS
Between 1990 and 2000, 64 patients were seen in the pediatric department for pseudotumoral disease. The reasons of orientation were mainly a soft tissue mass (15 cases), an abdominal mass (14 cases), or a bone lesion (13 cases). Diagnosis was most often infectious diseases (33 cases), or post-traumatic lesions (10 cases). Diagnosis was established following several consultations or an hospitalization for 29 of 64 patients. In 75% of the cases new investigations were necessary to determine the diagnosis. A biopsy was performed in 19. For two children, diagnosis was corrected after the beginning of chemotherapy.


CONCLUSIONS
Pseudotumoral diseases leading to a consultation in pediatric oncology are rare and represent two per cent of the patients. For these difficult cases, only a pluridisciplinary discussion may lead to diagnosis.
Raimondo
G
G
Département d'oncologie pédiatrique, institut Gustave-Roussy, 39, rue Camille-Desmoulins, 94800 Villejuif, France.
Ridola
V
V
Brugières
L
L
Couanet
D
D
Valteau-Couanet
D
D
Grill
J
J
Pein
F
F
Hartmann
O
O
D000008:Abdominal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D001859:Bone Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002648:Child; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008495:Medical Oncology; D010372:Pediatrics; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012983:Soft Tissue Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*