The Predictive Value of Abdominal Ultrasonography in Pediatric Lymphoma

Abstract

The prevalence of lymphoma among children is high and has been increasing in recent years. On the other hand, due to the sensitivity of the age group of children to receiving harmful CT scans, ultrasound can be a good alternative in staging pediatric lymphoma. The aim of this study was to evaluate the predictive value of abdominal ultrasound in children with lymphoma. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on children diagnosed with lymphoma by a pediatric oncologist. The study population of children referred to the ward for CT scan for staging, who first underwent ultrasound with the informed consent and then underwent CT scan at the request of the treating physician. Based on the pattern of involvement, the lymph node group involved, hepatic involvement, spleen and lymph node size, primary staging was performed. Then the patients underwent CT scan and staging again according to the same pattern and the final results of the two were compared with each other. Results: In this study, 50 children with a mean age of 6.78±10.78 years and an age range of 3 months to 12 years were evaluated. 64% of patients were male. The type of lymphoma was Hodgkin's in 86% of cases and non-Hodgkin's in 14% of cases. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value of abdominal ultrasound in lymphoma evaluation in children were 67.39%, 78.85%, 59.78% and 80.06%, respectively. Also, the sensitivity of ultrasound in assessing liver masses was 100% and spleen was 78.95%. In the evaluation of kidneys and renal lymphadenopathy, the sensitivity was less than 50%, but in the evaluation of kidneys, ultrasound had a specificity of 100%.