Сlinical and Sonographic Indices as Diagnostic Criteria of Infectious Mononucleosis in Children

• Main Authors: L.A. Ivanova, M.N. Haras, T.P. Andriichuk
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Publishing House Zaslavsky 2016-04-01
• Series: Aktualʹnaâ Infektologiâ
• Subjects: children; infectious mononucleosis; Epstein-Barr virus infection; diagnosis
• Online Access: http://ai.zaslavsky.com.ua/article/view/77664

Introduction. Significant polymorphism of clinical manifestations of infectious mononucleosis, multisystemic lesions, frequent lack of clear clinical and paraclinical criteria and delayed results of available laboratory tests, and sometimes impossibility of their execution complicate the diagnosis of the disease in prehospital stage and on admission to hospital. Objective of the study: to optimize the diagnosis and treatment of infectious mononucleosis in children by examining current features of the course and analyzing the diagnostic value of clinical and instrumental parameters in the verification of the disease. Materials and methods. On the basis of infectious boxed unit of respiratory infections of Municipal Healthcare Institution «Regional Children’s Hospital» (Chernivtsi), there were examined 65 children with infectious mononucleosis, who were hospitalized in the period of 2014–2015. The first clinical group (I) consisted of 42 children, the final clinical diagnosis of the disease in them was verified on the basis of comprehensive clinical and hematological criteria, the second (II) clinical group included 23 patients with serologically confirmed infectious mononucleosis. In terms of the main clinical signs, the observation groups were not significantly different. Results. It was found that for children with infectious mononucleosis, such clinical features are typical: sudden onset of the disease (in 93.8 %) with fever higher than 37.5 °C (80 %), the presence of exudative tonsillitis (81.6 %), submandibular and cervical lymphadenopathy (in 90.7 %), difficulty in nasal breathing (in 78.4 %), and nasal voice (in 73.8 %). In confirmation of Epstein-Barr virus infectious mononucleosis, phenomena of exudative tonsillitis and lymphadenopathy were highly sensitive (90 and 95 %, respectively), but with a high proportion of false positive results. Conclusion. Thus, given the lack of diagnostic value of clinical-anamnestic and sonographic parameters in identifying Epstein-Barr virus infectious mononucleosis in children, as evidenced by low values of the likelihood ratio and risk indicators, their use is expedient only in the combination.