Frequency of bone marrow involvement in Hodgkin's lymphoma on first presentation.

Abstract

To determine the frequency of bone marrow involvement in patients of Hodgkin's lymphoma on first presentation at oncology department. Case series. The Oncology Department, Combined Military Hospital, Rawalpindi, from April 2006 to February 2007. Thirty five patients of Hodgkin's lymphoma diagnosed on lymph node biopsy presenting for the first time at Oncology Department, Combined Military Hospital, Rawalpindi were included. They were admitted in the ward and evaluated with history, physical examination and staging investigations. Bone marrow trephine biopsy was performed in all patients. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze data. On clinical and radiological evaluation, 8 patients (22.9%) had clinical stage (CS), 12 (34.3%) had CS II, 9 (25.7%) had CS III and 6 (17.1%) had CS IV. The microscopic appearance in bone marrow trephine examination showed lymphoma infiltrates in 6 (17.14%) patients and chronic disorder in 29 (82.85%) patients. Among patients with bone marrow infiltration, one had CS II disease, three had CS III disease and two had CS IV disease. One patient had bone marrow infiltration as the only manifestation of disease. Bone marrow involvement was seen in patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma clinical stage II or higher.