Mahwish Faizan, Muhammad Saleem, Nighat Sultana, Saadia Anwar, Abid Qureshi, Zunaira Rathore, Ahmed Imran, Nabila Tallat.
Malignant Pediatric Abdominal Tumours; Experience at the Children Hospital, Lahore.
Pak Paed J Jan ;42(2):115-9.

Objective: Pediatric abdominal tumors usually present in developing countries in late stages when they are clinically palpable. This study was conducted to evaluate initial presentation of children with abdominal tumors along with assessing demographics, need of any surgical intervention and Etiology. Methodology; An observational study was carried out in the Hematology and Oncology Department at The Children`s Hospital and Institute of Child Health, Lahore. All children with histologically proven malignant abdominal masses from January 1st 2016 till December 31st 2016 were included. Data regarding age, gender, presentation, any surgical intervention required and final diagnosis were analyzed. Results: Total 191 children diagnosed with malignant abdominal tumor were eligible for the study. Majority were male 120(63%), 1-4 years of age 101 (53%), and 5-9 yrs of age 58 (30%). Commonest presentation was abdominal distension and palpable abdominal mass 139 (72.8%), In majority mothers 186 (97.4%) noted a clinically palpable mass. Abdominal pain was present in 43 (22.5%) and fever 23 (12%). Diagnosis was made on trucut biopsy in 177 (93%) while primary surgical intervention required in 13 (7%). Etiology of malignant abdominal masses was Wilms tumor 66 (34.6%), neuroblastoma 52 (27.2%), non-Hodgkin lymphoma 34 (17.8%), germ cell tumor 16 (3.1%), rhabdomyosarcoma 6 (3%), hepatoblastoma 7 (3.7%), hepatocellular carcinoma 3 (1.5%), renal synovial cell carcinoma and adrenocortical tumor in 2 (1%) patients each while papillary renal cell carcinoma, undifferentiated synovial sarcoma liver was diagnosed in one patient each. Conclusion: Presentation of pediatric abdominal tumors is mostly in advanced stage with a palpable abdominal mass. Wilms tumor followed by neuroblastoma and non-Hodgkin Lymphoma is the most common solid abdominal Malignancy in pediatric age group in our setup. Surgical resect-ability and prognosis can be much improved by early detection of tumors. There is a need to train pediatricians and family physicians along with family about early recognition of abdominal mass for earlier diagnosis and treatment.

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