RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To present the clinical data that would anticipate the risk of malignancy in children subject to a lymph node biopsy for cervical lymphadenopathy. METHODS: This is a descriptive, retrospective and cross-sectional study that included 43 patients who were seen for cervical adenopathy in a 10-year period at the Hospital del Niño "Dr. Rodolfo Nieto Padrón." RESULTS: 23 cases turned out to be malignant disease (Hodgking disease being the most frequent) and 20 non-malignant diseases (infectious or reactive). The age at the moment of the diagnosis, duration of clinical progression and the number of nodes involved (2 or more) and the size of the lymph node biopsied were the risk factors for malignancy. Non-associated risk factors were sex, age of the patient, fever and spleen enlargement. CONCLUSION: Hodgkin disease was the most common that affected boys in school age. The size of the lymph node bigger than 3 cm and bilateral cervical lymph nodes and the progression of the disease shorter than 6 months, were the most significant differences between malignant and benign adenopathy.