Samina Hoosein, Naseeruddin Mahmood.
Lymphadenopathy in children - approach to the patient.
Med Today Jan ;1(4):112-3.

Lymphadenopathy is one of the most common clinical problems encountered in paediatrics. It is often very difficult to determine whether adenopathy is simply a response to frequent viral infections within an age group or it is significant enough to consider more serious underlying disease. Although the finding of lymphadenopathy sometimes raises fears about serious illness, it is usually a result of benign infectious causes. The physician`s task is to efficiently differentiate the few patients with serious illness from the many with self-limiting disease Most patients can be diagnosed on the basis of a careful history and physical examination. A three- to four-week period of observation is prudent in patients with localized nodes and a benign clinical picture. Generalized adenopathy should always prompt further clinical investigation. When a node biopsy is indicated, excisional biopsy of the most abnormal node will best enable the pathologist to determine a diagnosis.

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