[Burkitt's lymphoma revealed by acute intussusception in children]

Burkitt's lymphomas are rarely revealed by acute intestinal intussusception in children. The study aim was to report eight cases.

Between 1988 and 1999, eight children, seven boys and one girl (mean age: 6 years) were hospitalized for an acute abdominal syndrome. Abdominal ultrasonography showed intestinal intussusception (n = 8) primitive tumor (n = 2), mesentivic lymph nodes (n = 2) and liver nodes (n = 1). Enema (n = 6) confirmed presence and irreductibility of the intestinal intussusception. A laparotomy was performed on emergency in seven patients and found the primitive tumor in 6. The procedure consisted in disinvagination (n = 4) and intestinal resection for ischaemia (n = 2). One patient was not operated on and the diagnosis was performed through ultrasonography guided tumoral puncture.

According to the Murphy classification, there were 2 stage II, 3 stage III and 3 stage IV patients. With LMB protocol chemotherapy, a complete remission was observed following the first cure. All the children were alive at the time of this study with a follow-up longer than one year after the complete remission.

Abdominal sonography is the most efficient examination for the diagnosis of intestinal intussusception and sometimes of the primitive lesion. In the absence of sonographic intestinal impair, thanks to ultrasonography guided tumoral puncture, diagnosis may be made and chemotherapy started. If the lymphoma is not visualized with ultrasonography, an emergency laparotomy is necessary for the diagnosis of the lymphoma and the intestinal resection in case of necessity. Burkitt's lymphoma is very sensible to chemotherapy.