Peripheral Lymphadenopathy: A Descriptive Study from a Tertiary Care Centre in Lubumbashi (D.R.C)

摘要

Introduction: The causes of superficial lymphadenopathy are diverse and their prognosis is often unknown. The diagnosis of superficial lymphadenopathy remains a challenge because, alone, its clinical picture doesn’t allow differentiating between an infectious disease and a non-transmissible disease. The aim of this study is to describe epidemiological, clinical and pathologic aspects of superficial lymphadenopathy observed in the internal medicine department at the University of Lubumbashi Clinics (DR Congo). Patients, Materials and Methods: This is a descriptive and transversal study on superficial lymphadenopathy obs erved over a period of 24 months from November 2013 to October 2015 at the University of Lubumbashi Clinics. Parameters studied were gender, age, clinical particular of superficial lymphadenopathy and associated patient clinical signs and pathology of these lymph nodes biopsy. Results: 36 patients’ data were identified with a sex ratio M/F = 1.76 and a mean age of 42.47 ± 15.64 years. 75% of patients had lymph nodes tumefaction as the main complaint during consultation and 61.1% had a poor general condition marked by fever. 27.8% were HIV positive and cervical lymphadenopathy was the most frequent. As for the pathologic diagnosis, non-Hodgkin lymphoma was the most frequent diagnosis (47.2%) followed by reactive hyperplasia (27.8%) and infectious lymphadenopathy (19.4%). Conclusion: The most frequent cause of lymphadenopathy in our study was non-Hodgkin lymphoma (47.2%) followed by lymph nodes reactive hyperplasia (27.8%) and infectious lymphadenitis. Lymph nodes biopsy plays an important role in confirming superficial lymphadenopathy diagnosis. It should be the basic procedure to diagnose extra pulmonary tuberculosis in the DRC National Program against TB.