[Critical evaluation of 245 cases of lymph node biopsy]

We examined 245 lymph node biopsies of subjects possibly suffering from systemic lymphopathy, in which non-invasive means did not allow a certain diagnosis. The parameters considered are: histological finding, age of patients at the time of diagnosis, presence of general symptoms, location of the superficial lymph nodes concerned, collateral tests usually performed, familiarity. The significance of differences between the main disease groups has been checked by the usual statistical methods. Our data are generally consistent with the diagnostic criteria commonly accepted in the literature, except for some details: e. g. in Hodgkin's disease the distribution of patient ages at the time of first diagnosis shows a single peak (unimodal), instead of two, as described in other countries. The involvement of supraclavicular nodes in chronic aspecific lymphopathies is less frequent than in systemic lymphomas. Our experience has widely confirmed the indications and usefulness of lymph node biopsy for hematological diagnosis.