This Article Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 0009922808323110v1 48/4/404    most recent References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Kundra, M. Articles by Mahajan, P. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Kundra, M. Articles by Mahajan, P. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Epidemiologic Findings of Cancer Detected in a Pediatric Emergency Department

Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Detroit, manukundra{at}yahoo.co.in

Curt Stankovic, MD

Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Detroit

Nimisha Gupta, MD

Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Detroit

Ronald Thomas, PhD

Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Detroit

Merlin Hamre, MD

Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Detroit

Prashant Mahajan, MD, MPH, MBA

Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Detroit

This study describes epidemiologic findings of pediatric cancer diagnosed in the emergency department (ED) setting. Medical records are retrospectively reviewed on all patients in the hospital's cancer database between 2000 and 2004 who were diagnosed as having cancer or whose oncologic diagnosis was missed during their ED presentation. Of 427 patients identified in the cancer database, 18% (77 of 427) are analyzed. Oncologic diagnosis was missed in 5% (4 of 77) of the eligible patients initially presenting to the ED. The incidence of cancer in the ED is 22.8 cases per 100 000 ED visits. The most prevalent cancer is related to the hematologic system (37.7%), followed by the central nervous system (31.2%) and the abdomen (22.1%). Hematologic, central nervous system, and abdominal cancers constitute approximately 90% of all childhood cancers. Cancer is diagnosed frequently in our ED patient population. Based on the prevalence of certain tumors, the diagnostic approach to children with hematologic, neurologic, or abdominal complaints should include evaluation for any underlying cancer.

Key Words: childhood cancer • oncologic emergencies in children • clinical presentation of childhood cancer • cancer diagnosis

This version was published on May 1, 2009

Clinical Pediatrics, Vol. 48, No. 4, 404-409 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0009922808323110


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?