Histopathological pattern of cervical lymphadenopathy in Hadhramout-Yemen

Abstract

Objective: To describe the histopathological
pattern of cervical lymphadenopathy in Hadhramout-Yemen.
Metods: A retrospective study was carried out in
Hadhramout governorate -Yemen, between January 2009 and June 2014. A total of 838 patients,
both male and female of all age groups, having enlarged cervical lymph nodes were included in this
study. Data were obtained from request cards and
case files from national center for public health
laboratory-Hadhramout branch and private histopathology laboratories in Al-Mukalla city. Data
collection included age, sex, and pathology diagnosis.
Results: A total of 838 patients with cervical
lymphadenopathy were included in this study, their
ages ranging from 1 to 100 years old with a median age of 20 years; there were 423 (50.5%) female
& 415 (49.5) male. The majority of the cases (n=
575; 68.7%) were seen in the first three decades,
and the elderly age group (>70 years) constituted
2.7%. Of the 838 patients with cervical lymphadenopathy, 76.8% were non-neoplastic lesions and
23.2% were malignant. Tuberculosis lymphadenitis was a common cause of cervical lymphadenopathy which represented 29.7% of non-neoplastic
cases and metastatic carcinoma constituted 37.6 %
of neoplastic lesions.
Conclusions: Tuberculosis lymphadenitis was a
common problem in our country, comparable to
other third world countries. Young females were
frequently affected by TB as compared to males.
Squamous cell carcinoma was the commonest type
of metastatic lesion in the cervical lymph nodes.