Juvenile xanthogranulomas in Asian children

Abstract

Juvenile xanthogranuloma (JXG) is the most common non-Langerhans cell histiocytic disorder. It can rarely be associated with systemic involvement. There is a paucity of literature on JXG in Asian children. We aim to describe the epidemiology, clinical features, systemic associations, histological features and outcome of a cohort of Asian children with JXG, and review the literature on the condition. We retrospectively reviewed the demographic, clinical and histological data of patients less than 16 years of age, diagnosed with JXG at our tertiary pediatric hospital between January 2002 and April 2019. A total of 147 children with JXG were identified, with a slight male preponderance of 53.1%. The median age of the onset was 15.5 months, with 69.4% presenting before 2 years of age. There was no racial predilection. The most frequently involved site was the head and neck region (44.2%). The majority of patients (76.2%) presented with a solitary lesion. Spontaneous resolution was documented in 57.7% of our patients with mean duration to resolution of 18.8 months. The proportion and speed of resolution did not differ in children with single or multiple lesions. No ophthalmologic complications were detected in our study cohort. JXG in children is generally limited to the skin and is rarely associated with systemic involvement, including the eye. Unless clinically indicated, the results from our study does not support routine screening for juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia, eye or systemic complications, even in the setting of multiple cutaneous JXGs.

Keywords: JXG; Juvenile xanthogranuloma; histiocytosis.