[Bone-marrow biopsy in Hodgkin's disease].

In 349 subjects with Hodgkin's disease 520 bone marrow biopsies were carried out: 454 did not lead to the discovery of any tumour (87.5%), 66 permitted us to discover a tumour (12.5%). Among the bone marrows without Hodgkin tissue, the hematopoietic tissue was normal in 233 bone marrows (51.2%), hyperplastic in 157 bone marrows (34.7%), hypoplastic or aplastic in 64 bone marrows (14%). Eosinophilia was noted in 13% of cases, marked plasmacytosis was noted in 24%. Among the cases with a tumour, 89.2% showed a massive lesion; 10.7% showed partial lesions. The frequency of involvement was 5.4% for clinical stages I. 6.2% for stage II. 17.1% for stage III. 47.6% for stageIV. Bone marrow involvement at the start of the disease was found in 3% of cases, even in stages I and II. The involvements were especially frequent in the histological forms, stage III (19.4%) and IV (30.4%). In splenectomised patients, bone marrow involvement was 5 times more common when the spleen was also involved. 50 times more common when the liver was involved. The bone marrow which may be used to detect hematogenic spread of Hodgkin's disease is an investigation which should be carried out as a routine in the early stages of the disease and whenever a relapse is suspected.