[Lymphographic picture of malignant lymphomas in children]

The paper deals with a study of lymphographic data on 204 cases of pediatric malignant lymphomas: primary Hodgkin's disease--150 and non-Hodgkin's lymphomas--54. The frequency of retroperitoneal lymph node involvement was nearly identical in both study groups (68.0 and 68.5%, respectively). In Hodgkin's disease, lymph node lesions developed gradually and were asymmetric; a total involvement of lymph nodes was more frequent in non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, the X-ray patterns of affected nodes being identical. The study failed to establish any lymphographic signs pathognomonic for certain histologic types characteristic of Hodgkin's disease and non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. Lymphography should be carried out in all cases of stage I--II Hodgkin's disease, while in stages III and IV its role is limited to determining the size of irradiation fields.