Assessment of Adult Peripheral Lymphadenopathy in Red Sea State, Sudan

Background: Although peripheral lymphadenopathy is a common presentation in Red Sea State, Sudan, no previous work was made to assess its causes. So, this study is done to identify the underlying causes of peripheral lymph nodes enlargement in the adult patients.
Place and Duration of Study: Red Sea Medical Center laboratory, Port Sudan, Sudan between November 2006 and June 2010.
Methods: Three hundred twenty seven patients presented with lymphadenopathy were examined by FNAC and histopathological techniques. The sites and the causes of the enlarged lymph nodes were identified. Clinical data were collected in predesigned questionnaires.
Results: Generalized lymphadenopathy was found in 25 patients (7.7%). The vast majority of the patients (69.4%) had cervical lymph node enlargement. The commonest cause of lymphadenopathy was tuberculosis (39.5%), followed by metastatic diseases (24.7%). Non Hodgkin’s and Hodgkin’s lymphoma represent 16.6% of the patients. Metastatic tumors commonly present after the age of 50 years (92.6%). Females are more affected by TB than males (60.1%). In this study, 180 of the cases were females and 147 cases were males.
Conclusions: FNAC and in some cases lymph node biopsy should be done to any adult patient with chronic peripheral lymphadenopathy in the studied area. This will assist in the early diagnosis and proper management of the patients.