Non Hodgkin Lymphoma and Related Factors in Patients with Peripheral Lymphadenopathy in Lubumbashi (DR Congo)

Introduction: Lymphadenopathy refers to the condition in which lymph nodes become abnormal with regards to the size, consistency, tenderness, and may be one of the the symptoms of many diseases. Unfortunately striking differences still exist with respect to reliability of NHL diagnosis between developed and developing countries. However some authors think epidemiological factors would exist to orientate diagnosis of NHL. Thus this study aimed to determine sociodemographic, clinic and biological factors associated with NHL in patients with peripheral lymphadenopathy in the department of internal medicine at the University of Lubumbashi Clinics.

Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study on superficial lymphadenopathy observed over a period of 30 months from November 2013 to April 2016 at the University of Lubumbashi Clinics. Parameters studied included gender, age, localization and clinical characteristics of superficial lymphadenopathy; biological parameters and pathologic diagnosis were determined by lymph nodes biopsy.

Results: Data of 52 patients was collected and 40.40% of these patients had NHL as pathologic diagnosis. Some of variables studied presented a significant statistical association and included age ≥ 50 years old (p = 0.0072), male gender (p= 0.0381), inguinal location (p =0.0081), multifocal location (p = 0.0101), painless (p= 0.0360), HIV serology (p= 0.0192) and leukocytosis (p=0.0022). After logistic regression, NHL explicative variables: male gender, painless and leukocytosis were significant.

Conclusion: These related factors can be used as elements to orientate the diagnosis for our health facilities and would contribute to early NHL diagnosis for patients with lymphadenopathy in low-income countries like the DR Congo.