Outcomes of Referrals in Pediatric Patients With Peripheral Lymphadenopathy.
J Pediatr Hematol Oncol
; 46(6): 322-326, 2024 Aug 01.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38652051
ABSTRACT
Lymphadenopathy is a common reason for referral to a subspecialist, which may result in significant anxiety for parents. Understanding which patients require a subspecialty referral for lymphadenopathy is key to streamlining health care utilization for this common clinical entity. This is an IRB-approved retrospective study examining pediatric patients consecutively referred to pediatric hematology oncology, otolaryngology, or surgery for lymphadenopathy from 2012 to 2021 at a free-standing tertiary-care children's hospital. Logistic regression was fitted to examine the association between the maximum size of the lymph nodes (LN) and a diagnosis of malignancy. The odds ratio, area under the receiver operator curve, sensitivity, and specificity were estimated. We found a significant association between LN size and cancer diagnosis. For every centimeter increase in the maximal dimension of LN, there was an estimated 2.3 times increase in the odds of malignancy (OR=2.3, 95% CI 1.65-3.11; P <0.0001). The estimated area under the curve (0.84, 95% CI 0.78-0.90) indicated that LN size correlated well with cancer diagnosis. A LN cut-off size of 2 cm resulted in an estimated sensitivity of 1.0 (95% CI 0.87-1.00) and specificity of 0.54 (95% CI 0.46-0.61). Maximum LN size may be a predictor of malignancy among pediatric patients with lymphadenopathy.
Full text:
1
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Referral and Consultation
/
Lymphadenopathy
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Child
/
Child, preschool
/
Female
/
Humans
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Infant
/
Male
Language:
En
Journal:
J Pediatr Hematol Oncol
Journal subject:
HEMATOLOGIA
/
NEOPLASIAS
/
PEDIATRIA
Year:
2024
Type:
Article