title: [Clinical and histological characteristics of adenopathies in paediatric patients].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Lymphadenopathy is a common cause for medical consultation in the child population, accounting for up to 44% in children under 5 years old. In some cases, it is required to take lymph node biopsy specimens in order to clarify the diagnosis.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To describe the clinical and histological features of paediatric patients with lymphadenopathy and lymph node biopsies.
  
  
  METHODS
  Descriptive and retrospective study conducted in Medellin (Colombia) in a fourth-level hospital between January 1st of 2009 and December 31st of 2012. In the study, lymph node biopsy specimens were taken from children under 15 years old. Demographic, clinical and laboratory features, and characteristics of the patients were evaluated, as well as the histopathological diagnosis of the lymph node biopsies.
  
  
  RESULTS
  From the child population, 61 children met the eligibility criteria and 33 (54.1%) of them were male with an average age of 6 years old. The most common pathological diagnoses in the study group were as follows: reactive hyperplasia (50.8%), neoplasms (27.9%), chronic granulomatous disease (4.9%), and bacterial infection (3.3%). It could be concluded from the findings in the study that Hodgkin lymphoma is very common among the neoplastic diseases, with 18%, and the most frequent location was the neck with 60.6%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study demonstrates the importance of performing a differential diagnosis when approaching patients with lymphadenopathy. As reported in the world medical literature, benign origin is the most common cause of lymphadenopathy in children.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Pediatría, Hospital Pablo Tobón Uribe, Medellín, Colombia; Departamento de Pediatría, Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, Medellín, Colombia.
authors.forename: Eliana
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gómez Cadavid
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Pediatría, Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, Medellín, Colombia.
authors.forename: Lina María
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Giraldo
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Pediatría, Hospital Pablo Tobón Uribe, Medellín, Colombia.
authors.forename: David Andrés
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Espinal
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Pediatría, Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, Medellín, Colombia; Departamento de Pediatría, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia. Electronic address: Isahurtado@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Isabel Cristina
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: Hurtado
mesh_terms: D001706:Biopsy; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006689:Hodgkin Disease / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000473:pathology*; D000072281:Lymphadenopathy / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies
keywords: Aetiology; Children; Estudio histopatológico; Etiología; Histopathological diagnosis; Linfadenopatía; Lymphadenopathy; Niños