Prevalence and Clinico-diagnostic Correlation of Hepatosplenomegaly in Children Admitted at a Tertiary Center in Kathmandu

Background: Hepatosplenomegaly is the simultaneous enlargement of liver and spleen. Its causes are enteric fever, hepatitis, scrub typhus, acute liver failure and leukemia and so on. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of organomegaly in the form of hepatosplenomegaly, hepatomegaly and isolated splenomegaly in admitted children along with various clinical features and diagnoses associated with them. Methods: A hospital based prospective descriptive cross-sectional study was done from 1st January 2020 to 30th June 2021. Children of one month to fourteen years with hepatomegaly, splenomegaly or hepatosplenomegaly were enrolled in the study. Results: A total of 72 children were enrolled in the study. Among them 65.2% had hepatomegaly, 30.55% had hepatosplenomegaly and 4.16% had splenomegaly. The prevalences of hepatomegaly, hepatosplenomegaly and splenomegaly were 6.46%, 3.02% and 0.41% respectively. Both hepatomegaly and hepatosplenomegaly were common between children of one month to five years with a prevalence of 3.71% and 1.37% respectively. Fever was the most common presenting symptom in both hepatomegaly and hepatosplenomegaly. Infection was the most common cause of organomegaly. Enteric fever was the most common cause of hepatomegaly, whereas scrub typhus was the most common cause of hepatosplenomegaly. Cases of isolated splenomegaly were rare. Conclusion: Hepatosplenomegaly, hepatomegaly are frequently encountered in children. These are mostly due to systemic illnesses owing to infection. Splenomegaly usually occurs simultaneously with hepatomegaly however isolated splenomegaly can occur in few cases. Proper history, physical examinations and investigations are of paramount importance for timely management of the patients.