title: Frequency and Pattern of Bone Marrow Infiltration in Classical Hodgkin's Lymphoma: Experience from Southern Pakistan.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hodgkin's lymphoma (formerly, Hodgkins disease) is a potentially curable malignancy with distinctive biological behavior and specific clinical characteristics. Limited information is available from developing countries for patients with classical Hodgkin's lymphoma (cHL). Therefore we reviewed the demographical and clinico-hematological profiles along with bone marrow infiltration patterns in adult patients presenting at Liaquat National Hospital and Medical College.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this cross sectional study, 62 adult (≥15 years) patients with cHL were enrolled from January 2010 to December 2014.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean age was 29.7±13.8 years with a median of 30 years. The male to female ratio was 2:1. B symptoms were present in 72.5% of patients and lymph node enlargement in 85.4%. The frequency of bone marrow infiltration in our cHL patients was found to be 27.4%, the pattern being predominantly focal followed by diffuse. The mean hemoglobin was 9.4±1.9g/dl with a mean MCV of 78.1±7.9 fl, a mean total leukocyte count of 10.9±20.6x109/l and a mean platelet count of 241.6±150.1x109/l.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our analysis shows that clinico-pathological features of cHL in Pakistan are comparable to published data. Peripheral lymphodenopathy associated with B symptoms is the commonest presentation. Bone marrow involvement is more common in our setup as patients usually presented at an advanced stage of disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology and Blood Bank, Liaquat National Hospital and Medical College, Pakistan, Karachi E-mail : sadiasultan96@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Sadia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sultan
authors.forename: Syed Mohammed
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Irfan
authors.forename: Saira
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Parveen
authors.forename: Syeda Amna
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Haider
authors.forename: Mahira
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Masood
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis*; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000473:pathology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006689:Hodgkin Disease / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010154:Pakistan / Q000453:epidemiology; D010976:Platelet Count; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor