F. Rizk

Pediatric Services Division Dhahran Health Center Dhahran, Saudi Arabia *Address for reprints: Jahed M. Hamdan, M.D., Chief, Pediatric Services Division, Box 76, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.

Angio immunoblastic lymphadenopathy (AIBL) is a recently described disease. It occurs most commonly in elderly patients with an average age of about 60 years. In children, few cases have been reported so far in the English literature (three occurred after thymic transplant and one case after infectious mononucleosis). AIBL has characteristics manifested by clinical, pathological and laboratory findings. Steroids, alone or with chemotherapy, are used for treatment with variable results. Herein, we report one child with AIBL who was treated with prednisone initially and then relapsed. Chemotherapy (cyclophosphamide, vincristine and prednisone) was added and she has been in remission for more than 3 years. The purpose of this report is to add AIBL to the differential diagnosis of acute generalized lymphadenopathy in children.