Relative high frequency of childhood Hodgkin's disease in the north of Portugal.

Sex, age and histopathologic pattern of 322 cases of Hodgkin's disease diagnosed at the Laboratory of Pathology of Oporto Medical School between 1930 and 1974 are presented. 35 (10.9%) of the 322 patients were less than 10 years old. The male/female ratio of childhood Hodgkin's disease was 2.9:1 and the histologic observation revealed mixed cellularity in 18 (51.4%) and nodular sclerosis in 10 (28.6%) of the 35 cases. Childhood Hodgkin's disease relative frequency has abruptly decreased in the last five years of the study period. Most of the children belonged to large families living under poor socioeconomic conditions and the majority of them presented in advanced clinical stages. These findings are similar to those previously described in some developing countries of tropical and subtropical regions and reinforce the advanced relationship between under-development and the geographic variations in childhood Hodgkin's disease frequency and pattern.