title: Epstein-Barr virus infection as a cause of cervical lymphadenopathy in children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Cervical lymphadenopathy is a common pediatric problem; reactive hyperplasia, specific infective agents, and malignancy are mainly the differential diagnosis. The aim of our study was to detect the prevalence of Epstein-Barr virus infection among children who complained of cervical lymphadenopathy and also to evaluate the clinical manifestations of the disease in pediatric patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred and sixty children presented with cervical lymphadenopathy were subjected to Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) serology testing. Cases that showed positivity to heterophile antibody test, and/or EBV-specific antibodies; IgM against viral capsid antigen (VCA-IgM) and IgG against viral capsid antigen (VCA-IgG) were evaluated clinically for manifestations of the disease.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-four cases (15%) showed positivity to EBV serology, all of them had posterior cervical lymph nodes enlargement, 70.8% had fever, 66.6% had tonsillo-pharyngitis, 58.3% had splenomegaly, 25% had hepatomegaly, 41.6% had generalized lymphadenopathy, while skin rash was detected in 12.5%, and both palatal petechiae and palpebral edema were detected in 8.3%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  EBV infection is not a rare cause of cervical lymphadenopathy in children. Posterior cervical lymphadenopathy in pediatric age group may represent a password for suspicion of EBV infection, while other clinical manifestations of the disease may include hepato-splenomegaly, skin rash, palpebral edema and palatal petechiae.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Egypt. mosabeez@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Mosaad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abdel-Aziz
authors.forename: Hassan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: El-Hoshy
authors.forename: Mohammed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rashed
authors.forename: Mohamed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Qotb
authors.forename: Seham
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Awad
authors.forename: Nader
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Naguib
mesh_terms: D017677:Age Distribution; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015897:Comorbidity; D004534:Egypt / Q000453:epidemiology; D020031:Epstein-Barr Virus Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008206:Lymphatic Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D008297:Male; D009333:Neck; D015995:Prevalence; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D017678:Sex Distribution
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral