Incidental neuroblastoma

The diagnosis of neuroblastoma in its early stage, especially in asymptomat ic children, with the so-called incidentally diagnosed disease, may be asso ciated with a prognosis. The aim of this study is an attempt at analyzing t his problem. Between 1 January 1993 and 30 April 1998, 40 children with new ly diagnosed neuroblastoma started therapy at the authors' department. The disease was diagnosed incidentally in 5 (12.5%) patients. In no incidentall y diagnosed child was stage IV disease detected, while in the remaining pat ients its incidence was 71%. All the children (median age 2 months) with in cidental diagnosis have remained alive (median 39 months) in continuous rem ission without treatment. Among 35 children (median age 2 years and 7 month s) with overt neuroblastoma, 18 died (survival time 14.5 months). Seventeen patients have remained alive (median 45 months). The results show that chi ldren with incidentally diagnosed neuroblastoma are characterized by a more favorable prognosis than children with clinical disease.