Changes in some haematological parameters in Nigeria children with Burkitt's lymphoma

In order to investigate the prevalence of anaemia and related haematological disorders, fifty-seven Nigerian children with Burkitt's Lymphoma, (BL) between the ages of 4-14 years were randomly selected from the paediatric Ward, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria and Kaduna. Twenty-eight age-matched children in apparent good health were included as control subjects. Results show that BL patients had significant (p<0.05) reduction in haemoglobin content compared to control values. Differential white blood cell (WBC) counts were not significantly different in the values for neutrophils and lymphocytes, when compared with control values, but the eosinophil count was significantly (p<0.05) different when compared with values obtained from the control subjects. Evidence available from the data of this investigation suggest that some Nigerian children with BL had mild to moderate anaemia and higher eosinophilic response during the course of BL pathogenesis. Thus, any plan to treat BL patients should recognize these conditions.