Rubina Aman, Azhar Mahmood Qureshi.
Clinical characteristics of Hodgkin`s Disease in Pakistan.
J Pak Inst Med Sci Jan ;14(1):735-41.

Hodgkin`s disease (H.D) is a malignant neoplasm of the lymphoid tissue The clinical profile of the disease seen in developing countries is different from that of the developed countries. The study was carried out at the departments of internal medicine and oncology, PIMS Islamabad. Forty adult patients with a histopathological diagnosis of H.D. were considered for the analysis. A complete history and physical examination were done to evaluate for the presence of B symptoms and to assess the clinical extent of the disease. Other haematological and radiographic investigations were conducted and the patients were staged according to the Ann Arbor staging system. The patients with limited disease were referred for radiotherapy: others were offered chemotherapy i.e. COPP regimen according to the standard protocol. Majority of patients (62.5%) were less than 30 years of age. Male to female ratio was 2.07.1. Disease limited to supra diaphragmatic structures was seen in 35% of the patients, while 52.5% had disease on both sides of the diaphragm. The histological sub type seen most frequently was mixed cellularity (75%). Most of the patients were in stage 11 (35%) and stage III (32.5) of the disease and 85% had B symptoms. A significant proportion of patients (27.5%) were lost to follow up. Complete remission was achieved in 42.5% and 17.6% showed a relapse. Patients who showed a good response were in a younger age group and had limited disease. The clinical pattern of the disease as seen in this study was comparable to that in other under developed.

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