The importance of staging laparotomy in pediatric Hodgkin's disease

Abstract

The findings of 247 pediatric patients who presented with supradiaphragmatic Hodgkin's disease and underwent staging laparotomies between April 1969 and December 1991 were reviewed to assess the importance of the staging laparotomy in pediatric Hodgkin's disease. A change in stage occurred in 25% of the cases reviewed. Fifty of the 202 (25%) clinical stage (CS) I or II patients were upstaged to pathological stage (PS) III or IV, and 12 of the 45 (27%) clinical stage III or IV patients were downstaged to pathological stage I or II. Possible risk factors for positive surgical staging, including gender, age, presence or absence of B symptoms, extent of involvement above the diaphragm, and histological type, were used to define subgroups of patients. Three statistically significant subgroups of patients with less than a 10% chance of restaging were identified. These groups included CS I and II patients with lymphocyte-predominant histology, CS I females, and CS III and IV females with nonlymphocyte predominant histology. These subgroups represent 24% of the cohort. Because CS is an accurate predictor of PS in these groups, treatment could be based solely on CS. The impact of radiographic imaging techniques on correctly predicting pathological stage was assessed. The rates of restaging for individuals with lymphangiography or computed axial tomography were not statistically different from those of patients without these radiographic studies. Therefore, abdominal imaging is not a substitute for surgical staging. No mortality and 2.8% morbidity occurred from staging laparotomy. Postsplenectomy sepsis and small bowel obstruction were the most common complications. Ninety-six percent of upstaged patients had splenic involvement, and 54% had positive nodal involvement. The spleen was the only site involved in 42% of patients. In conclusion, staging laparotomy is warranted for the majority of pediatric patients with Hodgkin's disease if treatment will be guided by stage.