[Pediatric Hodgkin disease in south Tunisia: a study of 23 cases].

Purpose: To discuss, through a retrospective study, the epidemiologic and anatomo-clinic aspects of paediatric Hodgkin disease (HD) in south Tunisia and to study the faisability of the French protocol MDH 90 for our patients.
Patients and Methods: Between January 1995 and December 2000, we treated 23 children with HD. Initial work-up included clinical examination, radiological explorations (chest X ray, abdomen ultrasonography and computed tomography scan of chest, abdomen and pelvis), biological explorations (full blood count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, serum albumin, liver functions tests) and a bone marrow biopsy. Treatment was inspired from the SFOP MDH 90 protocol. Overall survivals and disease free survivals were estimated with Kaplan-Meier method and compared with the log-rank test.
Results: Mean age was 8.6 years (4-14 years), sex-ratio was 3.6. Histological subtypes 2 and 3 had the same frequency. Localised stages (I-II) were as frequent as advanced stages (III-IV). At the end of the treatment, the 18 evaluables patients were in complete remission. The 5-year overall survival (OS) and disease free survival (DFS) were 82 and 76% respectively. Localised stages and advanced stages had the same 5-year overall survival (82%). There were no statistical differences in term of OS between the different prognosis factors studied.
Conclusions: The particularity of our study was the identical frequency of the two histological subtypes 2 and 3 and of localised and advanced stages. The MDH 90 protocol is feasable for our patients with satisfactory results similar to those found in the literature.