Pattern of childhood malignancies in a University referral Hospital in Addis Ababa

Abstract

retrospective analysis of 77 patients below the age of 15 years with childhood malignancy admitted to the pediatric wards of Tikur Anbessa Hospital (TAH) in Addis Ababa during a 2 year period from January 2005 up to December 2006 is presented. Malignancies accounted for 3.1% of all admissions during this period. There were 55 (71.8%) males and 22(28.2%) females, with ages ranging from 3 months up to 12 years; 35 (44.9%) patients were in the age group 0-5years. The commonest malignancy was Wilm’s tumor, which contributed for 19(24.7%) of cases. Fever, weight loss, abdominal mass, pallor, lymphadenopathy and hepatosplenomegaly were the leading clinical presentations of patients with malignancy. Over two-third of the patients were 53 (68.8%) presented in advanced stage of the disease. Diagnosis was confirmed by Hematology and /or histopathology tests. Patients who were presented with intracranial space occupying lesion without Computerized tomography (CT) were excluded from the analysis.