CLINCIAL DIFFERENCES OF ORAL MANIFESTIONS OF ACUTE LEUKEMIA IN A GROUP OF EGYPTIAN CHILDREN

Abstract

SUMMARY The present study specifically focused on the oral changes occurring in pediatric acute leukemic patients, the gingival, peridontium and dental treatment of these children to its most favorable course. Leukemias are malignancies of the hematopoietic tissues in which there is disseminated proliferation of abnonnal leukocytes in the bone marrow. Leukemias are classified according morphology into lymphocytic leukemia (LL) and non lymphocytic leukemia (NLL). These are further classified as acute or chronic depending on the progression of the clinical course and degree of differentiation or maturation of predominant abnonnal cells. Acute lymphatic leukemia is the most common malignancy encountered in the pediatric age group. Oral pathosis are, however, more commonly observed in acute leukemias than in chronic leukemias. Thirty two pediatric cases of acute leukemia (22 males and I 0 females) attending the pediatric oncology unite, National Cancer Institute, Cairo University are included in the PS. Thirty apparently healthy children from the neighboring schools at Manial district were included as controls. The aim of this study was to help these children in an attempt to direct the best line of treatment for them and evaluate the oral condition of these children at the beginning of the disease and during different phases of treatment comparing them with a control group. Subjects were grouped according to the phase of treatment. Dental caries prevalence, oral hygiene and gingival condition were examined for each individual in each group as well as oral cytological smear evaluation, oral fungal, quantitative evaluation of vitamin C level in plasma and oral radiological evaluation