[Hodgkin's disease in Zaire: histological and anatomo-clinical profile].

A total of 139 cases of Hodgkin's disease diagnosed over a 20-year period in the Department of Pathology, Kinshasa University Hospital, have been analysed with regard to relative frequency, histological type, anatomical site and age and sex of patients. Hodgkin's disease was found to be the most frequent of all lymphomas diagnosed, i.e., 139/527 cases or 26.37%. Histological forms reputed to be of poorer prognosis - mixed cellular and lymphocyte depleted - predominate and represent 31.5% and 31%, respectively, while the lymphocyte-predominant and scleronodular forms account for only 26.5% and .11%, respectively. Lymph nodes were the most frequent site affected (84%). More males are affected than females (ratio, 2.56:1); and the majority (49%) of people suffering from this lymphoma range from 18 to 40 years of age. These findings do not provide a complete pathological profile of Hodgkin's lymphoma in Zaïre. Nevertheless they indicate the main features that require further similar investigations in other areas of the country, before any definitive conclusions can be reached.