Clinicopathological Profile of Rhabdomyosarcoma in Children

Objectives: to describe the clinical profile as well as histopathological sub-types of rhabdomyosarcoma in children. methods: a hospital base prospective observational study was conducted among 20 diagnosed cases of rhabdomyosarcoma in children, those attending in hemato-oncology department of bangabandhu sheikh mujib medical university (bsmmu), dhaka in the period between january to december 2009. results: the peak incidence of rhabdomyosarcoma was in 1-5 years of age group (n=9, 45%) with mean age 6.83 years with male to female ratio 5.66:1. the common sites of primary tumor was in head and neck region (40%, n=08), followed by genito-urinary tract, 30% (n=06), extremities 20% (n=04), trunk 10% (n=02). the most common clinical presentation was mass lesion 100% (n=20), followed by local pain 25% (n=05), urinary obstructions 15% (n=03) dysphagia, chronic otorrhea, dysuria, haematuria, and proptoses were 10% each (n=02, each); the histological sub-types were embryonal 60% (n=12), alveolar 30% (n=6), and botryoid 10% (n=02); of embryonal variety in head and neck region 58.33% (n=7), and genito-urinary sites 41.67% (n=5); of alveolar variety in trunk 66.67% (n=4), and in extremities33.33% (n=2), of botryoid sub-type frequency was equal in head - neck region and genitourinary site 50% each (n=1). conclusion: children with rhabdomyosarcoma presented mostly in 1 to 5 years of age, with mass lesion (100%), predominantly in head and neck region (40%) and the commonest histological sub-type was embryonal variety (60%).