Frequency of bone marrow involvement in Hodgkin's lymphoma on first presentation.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the frequency of bone marrow involvement in patients of Hodgkin's lymphoma on first presentation at oncology department.


METHODS
Case series.


METHODS
The Oncology Department, Combined Military Hospital, Rawalpindi, from April 2006 to February 2007.


METHODS
Thirty five patients of Hodgkin's lymphoma diagnosed on lymph node biopsy presenting for the first time at Oncology Department, Combined Military Hospital, Rawalpindi were included. They were admitted in the ward and evaluated with history, physical examination and staging investigations. Bone marrow trephine biopsy was performed in all patients. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze data.


RESULTS
On clinical and radiological evaluation, 8 patients (22.9%) had clinical stage (CS), 12 (34.3%) had CS II, 9 (25.7%) had CS III and 6 (17.1%) had CS IV. The microscopic appearance in bone marrow trephine examination showed lymphoma infiltrates in 6 (17.14%) patients and chronic disorder in 29 (82.85%) patients. Among patients with bone marrow infiltration, one had CS II disease, three had CS III disease and two had CS IV disease. One patient had bone marrow infiltration as the only manifestation of disease.


CONCLUSIONS
Bone marrow involvement was seen in patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma clinical stage II or higher.
Nadeem
Mohammad
M
Department of Oncology, Combined Military Hospital, Rawalpindi. dr_nadeempiracha@hotmail.com
Naqi
Naeem
N
Hussain
Iftikhar
I
Khattak
Javeed
J
Ahmed
Riaz
R
Khan
Badshah
B
D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000473:pathology*; D006689:Hodgkin Disease / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans