Leukemia and its Oral Manifestations in Children Younger than ۱۲ Years Referred to Tehran Pediatric Hospitals

Background: Acute leukemia is amalignant, rapidly progressive disease of the bonemarrow and blood thatmost commonly occurs in children. Abnormalities of blood caused by leukemia and also accumulation of leukemic cells in different parts of the oral cavity cause a wide spectrum of oral manifestations. Objectives: The current study aimed to estimate the incidence of leukemia among children in Tehran and evaluate oral manifestations of the disease as potential diagnostic markers. Patients and Methods: In this retrospective cross-sectional study, medical records of children younger than ۱۲ years referred to Mofid hospital, Ali-Asghar hospital and Children’s medical center from ۱۹۹۷to ۲۰۱۱ were retrieved from the hospital archives and evaluated. Records of ۱۰۰ patients with leukemia were randomly selected for evaluation. The obtained data were transferred to the questionnaires. Data were analyzed using SPSS version ۱۱.۵ and Chi-square test. Results: Of the ۳,۷۸۹ children younger than ۱۲ years referred to the hematology department of Tehran pediatric hospitals from ۱۹۹۷ to ۲۰۰۱, ۱,۳۷۲ had acute leukemia, put of which ۹۴% had acute lymphoblastic leukemia and ۵% had acute myeloid leukemia. Boys aged ۵ - ۱۰ years made up ۶۹% of the acute leukemia cases. The most common oral manifestation was gingival bleeding and petechiae. The most important disease other than leukemia was anemia in the patients. Conclusions: The present study highlights the role of dentists to detect oral manifestations of leukemia and their possible role in early diagnosis of patients with the disease.