Hodgkin's disease diagnosed post mortem: a population based study.

All cases of Hodgkin's disease (HD) notified to the Danish Cancer Registry from 1976 through 1987 in patients less than 70 years old were reviewed in order to identify patients in whom a correct diagnosis was established only post mortem. The case records of such patients were reviewed in a search for clinical features that could have ensured a correct pre mortem diagnosis. HD was diagnosed after death in 31 patients in this unselected population based study and thus constituting only 2.4% of all patients less than 70 years with HD, but 14.1% of the group aged 65-69 years. Most patients were identified during the first part of the study period, which may reflect a decreasing autopsy rate. HD was considered to be a coincidental finding in four patients and the primary cause of death in 27 patients. Among the later 27 patients a number of unfavourable prognostic factors were a common finding: persistent unexplained fever and weight loss, pancytopenia, hepatic involvement, bone marrow involvement, advanced stage disease, and lymphocytic depletion histology. However, most of the patients had no concurrent diseases and may have benefitted from a correct diagnosis and a potentially curative treatment. The many uncommon features of HD together with the frequent findings of falsely negative chest X-ray, bone marrow examination, liver biopsy, and ultrasound contributed to the difficulty in diagnosis. In about 1/3 of the patients clinical findings suggestive of lymphoma did not result in relevant diagnostic procedures.