Abstract

Background: There is substantial variation in the incidence rate of acute lymphoblastic leukemia by ethnicity. In addition, leukemia has broad-spectrum variations in clinical and laboratory findings at presentations.
Aim: This study aimed to determine the patterns of acute childhood leukemia in Duhok city.
Patients and methods: In this cross-sectional study, the patients who were diagnosed with leukemia and admitted at Jin pediatric Oncology Haematology center in Duhok .The general and clinical features of the patients included age, sex, season diagnosis, socioeconomic status, clinical features, and biochemical parameters were collected between the 1st of September, 2015 and 1st of September 2016.
Results: The study revealed that most of the patients were in the 1-5 age group (54.8%) followed by 5-10 years (24.7%). The patients were males (56.2%) and females (43.8%) with 1.28:1.0. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia was the most prevalent type of leukemia (86.3%). The patients were admitted in dry and rainy seasons; 54.8% and 45.2%, respectively. Most of the patients were admitted in winter (45.2%), followed by summer (34.2%). The patients had low (45.2%), middle (42.2%), and high (12.35) socio-economic status. Pallor was the most prevalent presentation of the patients with leukemia (n=50) followed by fever (n=36), and splenomegaly (n=32). Some of the patients had multiple signs and symptoms. The HB and WBC of most of the patients were abnormal (84.9% and 71.2%, respectively), similar to platelets (53.4%).
Conclusion: This study showed that there is variation in the age group, clinical features, season of diagnosis, and biochemical parameters in leukemia patients.