Aetiology of peripheral lymphadenopathy in adults: analysis of 1724 cases seen at a tertiary care teaching hospital in southern India.

BACKGROUND: In patients presenting with peripheral lymphadenopathy, excision biopsy of the most accessible lymph node provides material to establish an early diagnosis, and is important in the management of these patients. METHODS: A retrospective study was done of 1724 lymph node biopsy specimens obtained from adult patients and submitted for histopathological examination over a 12-year period. RESULTS: About one-third (n = 614; 35.6%) of these patients had non-specific lymphadenitis. This included a heterogeneous group of disorders comprising benign follicular hyperplasia, reactive hyperplasia, marked follicular hyperplasia and reactive sinus histiocytosis. Tuberculosis lymphadenitis (n = 540; 31.3%) and malignancy (n = 447; 25.9%) were the other common causes. Of the 540 patients with tuberculosis lymphadenitis, the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status was tested in 424 (78.5%) patients; of these, 34 patients (8%) were HIV-seropositive. Epithelioid granulomas with caseation necrosis were more frequently seen in HIV-seronegative patients compared with HIV-seropositive ones (chi2 = 54.66; p < 0.001 ). In HIV-seropositive patients, multiple sites of lymph node involvement (chi2 = 40.597; p < 0.001), suppurative type with adjacent necrosis and panniculitis (chi2 = 68.128; p < 0.001), and non-reactive histological types (chi2 = 109.234; p < 0.001) were more commonly seen compared with HIV-seronegative patients. Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease (n = 36), Kimura disease (n = 7), Rosai-Dorfman disease (n = 6), were rare aetiological causes that have been infrequently reported from India. CONCLUSION: Awareness of the characteristic histopathological findings and uncommon aetiological causes of peripheral lymphadenopathy may spare patients from unnecessary evaluation and treatment. In HIV-positive patients, lymph node tuberculosis may be histopathologically unusual and may be suppurative or non-reactive in nearly one-third of patients.

Clinical profile of carcinoma stomach at a tertiary care hospital in south India.

Carcinoma of the stomach is an important cause of mortality due to cancer. Carcinoma of the stomach is common in the southern region of India. We conducted a retrospective study on the epidemiological, clinical and survival patterns among the patients with carcinoma of the stomach, attending our hospital from June 19, 1995 to 1st January 2003. All the patients had histopathological confirmation of malignancy. Patients with gastrooesophageal junction lesions were excluded. Surgery was performed with curative as well as palliative intent in suitable patients. Chemotherapy has been incorporated in to the combined modality treatment in our hospital since July 2000. Postoperative chemotherapy comprised commonly used intravenous chemotherapy regimens, while oral chemotherapy (etoposide) was given to patients with disease not amenable to surgery, and those having poor performance and nutritional status. Oral etoposide was given in a dose of 50 mg/day for 14 days, in a 28 day cycle. Quality of life was assessed in the oral chemotherapy group. Out of the 1749 cancer patients seen during the period, 151 had gastric malignancy (8.6%). The median age was 55 years (range 15-84 years). The male to female ratio was 4:1. Adenocarcinoma was found in 148 patients, 2 had stromal tumours and 1 had non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Stage disribution was as follows; stage 2-1 patient , stage 3a-25, stage3b-49, stage4-3 1, Metastatic-28. Staging was not completed in 17 patients. Eighty-nine patients underwent surgery. Fifty-nine patients (39%) did not have surgery. One patient underwent polypectomy. Curative gastrectomy was performed in 11 patients. Thirty-nine patients underwent palliative tumour resection. Palliative gastro-jejunostomy for relief of symptoms was performed in 26 patients and exploratory laparotomy alone was perforaied in 13. Thirty-eight patients received chemotherapy. Out of these, only 2 patients had prior complete resection of the tumour and 36 received palliative chemotherapy. Intravenous chemotherapy was given to 17 patients and oral chemotherapy to 19; All the patients who received oral etoposide did not experience any toxicity. Patients who received intravenous chemotherapy (n=17) had the following toxicities: grade 3 emesis in 4 (20%), discoloration of the skin and nails in 6(31%), alopecia in 8 (50%), grade 3 diarrhoea in 3 (15%) and neutropenic fever in 4 patients (20%). Median survival for the cohort was 10.4 months. Quality of life parameters, such as sleep, appetite, weight, pain, work and general sense of ill health showed improvement. In conclusion, 8.6% of all cancers at our hospital were due to cancer of stomach, in whom distal gastric tumor were more frequent and most were non-resectable. Median survival was 10.4 months. Oral etoposide was found to be safe, improved the quality of life and may play a role in the palliative management of advanced carcinoma of the stomach.

Eosinophilic pleural effusion and presence of filariform larva of Strongyloides stercoralis in a patient with metastatic squamous cell carcinoma deposits in the pleura.

A 58-year-old, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) negative, male farmer presented with a right-sided hemorrhagic, exudative, eosinophilic, rapidly reaccumulating pleural effusion. Pleural biopsy revealed secondary deposits from a squamous cell carcinoma. Wet mount film of pleural fluid unexpectedly showed filariform larvae of Strongyloides stercoralis. Our observation suggests that strongyloidiasis should be considered as the etiological cause for pleural effusion of obscure etiology. The threshold for suspicion should be high if the pleural effusion is exudative and eosinophil rich.

Fatal granulomatous disease of childhood: presenting as acute abdomen.

Fatal granulomatous disease of childhood is a rare disorder of phagocytic function. We report a 6-year-old boy who presented with acute abdomen. The diagnosis was established by mesenteric lymph node biopsy obtained at laparotomy. The boy succumbed within hours of surgery.