Hodgkin's disease in 82 Turkish children diagnosed over a 10-year period: epidemiological, clinical, and histopathologic features and prognosis with prolonged chemotherapy.

In this study, 82 Turkish children with Hodgkin's disease (HD) between 1 and 14 years of age and diagnosed over a 10-year period were evaluated retrospectively. More than half of the patients (54%) presented with advanced stages of HD. Mixed cellularity (MC) was the most frequent (56.1%) histopathologic type, which was followed by nodular sclerosing (NS, 18.3%) in frequency. None of the patients received radiotherapy as initial treatment. In 67 children the COPP regimen alone and in 15 the ABVD regimen alternating with COPP were started, to be given as a total of 12 courses. In the patients who presented with stage I-II HD the overall survival (OAS) rate and 5-year event free survival (EFS) rate were 92.3% and 77.8%, respectively. In the patients with advanced disease (stage III-IV) OAS and 5-year EFS were estimated to be 89.5% and 67.4%, respectively. No serious toxicity of chemotherapy was detected during the follow-up. In this group, clinical, epidemiological and histopathologic features of the disease showed a special pattern close to the type I pattern of HD. Regarding the survival rules and occurrence of low toxicity in our patients, results of prolonged chemotherapy alone seem to be encouraging in most of the children with HD. However, the follow-up duration is not yet sufficient to declare a clear conclusion related to the late complications.

Burkitt's lymphoma in 63 Turkish children diagnosed over a 10 year period.

Sixty-three Turkish children with Burkitt's lymphoma (BL) diagnosed over a 10-year period in a single institution were retrospectively analyzed. Burkitt's lymphoma included 41.7% of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas and 17.2% of all childhood malignant solid tumors diagnosed in our department in this duration. The patients studied with BL were aged between 3 and 14 years (mean 5.9 years), with a male of female ratio of 2:1. While the age distribution in our patients was similar to that in African BL (endemic), the predominance of abdominal involvement and the frequency of bone marrow infiltration and pleural effusion were reminiscent of American BL (sporadic). The incidence of jaw involvement (15.9%) in our group was higher than in American BL, however, and was not a high as in African BL. Most of the patients were of a lower socioeconomic status. Significant growth retardation was found in the children with BL compared with 40 age-matched children without malignancy, nor chronic or endocrinologic disorders, who were of a similar socioeconomic status. A serological study for Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) was performed in 18 children, and the IgG-type antibody to the viral capsid antigen of EBV was found to be positive in all of them. As a result, BL seems to include a considerable proportion of all childhood malignant solid tumors in Turkey. The epidemiological and clinical presentation and course indicate that BL appears in Turkish children in a form that is between the African and American types of the disease. Further molecular and chromosomal studies in Turkish children with BL are needed.

Eosinophilic gastroenteritis presenting as protein--losing enteropathy (case report).

Eosinophilic gastroenteropathy is an uncommon, idiopathic disease in children that is characterized by eosinophilic inflammation of the intestine. Predominant involvement of the mucosa is associated with diarrhea and less commonly gastrointestinal protein and fat malabsorption. A seven-year-old female was diagnosed with eosinophilic gastroenteritis. This condition was proven by biopsies attained through an endoscope. The most common symptoms were abdominal pain, diarrhea and edema. The patient had no eosinophilia. Her serum immunoglobulin E level was increased (1590 mg/dl). Barium studies revealed mucosal thickening of the antrum, distal jejunum and proximal ileum and prominent mucosal folds of the colon. Ultrasound examination revealed thickening of the colonic wall. The patient was treated with prednisolone (2 mg/kg/day). The symptoms subsided and serum immunoglobulin E decreased to 500 mg/dl 45 days later. The patient is being followed with a small maintenance dose of prednisolone with no relapse.