PEDIATRIC HEAD AND NECK LYMPHOMAS IN PAPUA-NEW-GUINEA - A REVIEW AND ANALYSIS OF 67 CASES

A retrospective study of head and neck lymphomas in Papua Newguinean c hildren between the age of 0 and 12 years for a 10-year period has bee n attempted. A total of 67 cases are recorded. This constitutes approx imately 23% of all lymphomas seen during this period. There was a male predominance in all groups. Non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL) comprised o f 92% of which Burkitt's lymphomas (BL) predominate (64%). Almost 50% of these cases seen were in the age group of 5-8 years. In BL, cheek s welling and upper jaw involvement are the common modes of presentation , however, in 23% of cases advanced disease with multiple sites of inv olvement are noted. In other NHL cases, approximately 55% presented wi th cervical lymphadenopathy only, maxillary sinus was affected in four cases and orbit in two cases. Histological evaluation of NHL cases ex cluding BL revealed two high grade, nine intermediate grade and seven low grade tumours. Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) comprised of 8%. All cases of HL presented with cervical lymphadenopathy. Standard therapeutic mo dalities for lymphomas with multidrug chemotherapy, surgery and radiot herapy were followed. Proper prognostic evaluation following the treat ment had not been possible in view of poor patient compliance and lack of follow up. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reser ved.