All issues > Volume 30(2); 1987

Original Article

J Korean Pediatr Soc. 1987;30(2):181-190. Published online February 28, 1987.

Clinical, Hematological and Cytogenetical Studies of Leukemia in Children.

Young Wook Kim¹, Chan Gyu Hwang¹, Ki Bok Kim¹

¹Department of Pediatrics, Kwangju Christian Hospital

Abstract

A review was made on the clinical, hematological and cytogenetical findings of 68 children diagnosed as leukemia at Pediatric Department, Kwangju Christian Hospital, during a period of 10 years from Jan. 1975 to Dec. 1985. The results were as follows: 1) The sex ratio of 68 children diagnosed as Leukemia was 1:1. The most common age group was 11-12 year(19.1%), followed by the group of 3-4 year(16.2%). 2) Of the 68 cases of leukemia, 47 cases(69.1%) were found to be Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia, 19 cases(28%) were diagnosed Acute Myelocytic Leukemia and 2 cases were diagnosed as Chronic Myelocytic Leukemia. 3) The durations of clinical manifestation before the diagnosis were less than 1 month in 67.7%, 2 to 5 months on 23.5%, and more than 6 months in 8.8%. 4) The subjective symptoms on admission were in the order of frequency: pallor(86.8%), fever(54.4%), fatigue(38.2%), bleeding(27.9%) and abdominal pain(26.5%). Common objective signs were lymphadenopathy(54.4%), splenomegaly(44.1 %), hepatomegaly(36.8%) and purpura(19.1%). 5) The examination of peripheral blood revealed leukocyte counts of 20,000 to 50,000/mm3 in 29.4 % of all cases, over 50,000/mm3 in 23.5%, under 5,000/mm3 in 19.1%, 5,000 to 10,000/mm3 in 14.7% and 10,000 to 20,000/mm3 in 13.3%. Hemoglobin levels were 4.0 to 8.0 g/dl in 61.7%, under 4.0 g/dl in 23.5% and over 8.0 g/dl in 14.8%. Platelet count under 50,000/mm3 was found in 48.6%, over 100,000/mm3 in 26.4% and 50,000 to 100,000/mm3 in 25%. Reticulocytes under 2% was in 60.3%, 2 to 4% and in 30.9% and over 4% was in 8.8%. 6) Cultures of peripheral blood and/or bone marrow for chromosomal analysis were performed in 45 cases, among which karyotype patterns were obtained in 18 cases and chromosomal abnormalities were found in 10 cases. Abnormal karyotype patterns found were as follows: 2 cases of Down syndrome associated with ALL, 4 cases of A-group abnormalities, 3 cases of G-group abnormalities and 1 case of Tetraploid(92,XY).

Keywords :Leukemia in children, Chromosomal analysis.