RESUMO
Cervical adenopathy is a frequent reason for hospitalization in the internal medicine department. This finding can be a sign of severe disorder requiring early diagnosis. The purpose of this retrospective study was to describe clinical features and evaluate diagnostic tests especially lymph node biopsy associated with evaluation of patients presenting cervical adenopathies in an internal medicine department in Senegal. Records of a total of 8610 patients treated in the Internal Medicine Department of the Aristide Le Dantec Hospital of Dakar, Senegal over a 68-month period from January 1, 2000 to August 20, 2006 were reviewed. Sixty-six files were included for study. A structured questionnaire was used to collect sociodemographic, clinical and paraclinic data. There were 37 men and 29 women. Average patient age was 34 years (range, 15 to 73 years). The side of the neck was the most frequent location of adenopathy followed by the pericervical arterial circle and anterior cervical area. Thirty-six patients presented superficial adenopathy in other locations including the armpit (39%), groin (32%) and elbow (1.5%). The etiologies underlying cervical adenopathy included classic causes such as tuberculosis that is the main cause in tropical regions and lymphoma that frequently led to macroadenopathy as well as novel causes such as Rosaï Dorfman Destombes syndrome.
