Q. I have a swollen lymph node in the armpit. Does it indicate any health issue?

Answered by

and medically reviewed by iCliniq medical review team.

Published on May 12, 2018

Patient's Query

Hello doctor,

I have swollen lymph node in the armpit with very little pain. I have been experiencing fatigue and weight loss for last few weeks. I have gone through some routine lab test and found that some test results are out of the normal range. Iron profile: iron 153, UIBC 96 (low‌), TIBC 249, saturation % 61.40 (high). Are the above results an indication of any health issue or disease like hemochromatosis?

Answer

Dr. Sagar Ramesh Makode

Cardiology General Medicine Internal Medicine

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

Serum iron is a bit on the high normal side and TIBC/ UIBC is on the lower side. The rest of the reports are fine. ESR is normal, so it makes the possibility of chronic inflammatory illness to be less likely.

However, your iron profile is not complete, serum ferritin value is not there. You should request the laboratory to test it again. Ferritin will indicate the amount of excessive iron in the body. If ferritin is elevated, then it suggests iron overload in you and in that case you will need further investigations like HFE mutation testing, liver, and cardiac MRI, etc.

So, on priority, you should get serum ferritin level done to look for a possibility of iron overload. You also request for CRP test as an alternative evidence for any inflammatory disease. It is similar to ESR.

Meanwhile, do you have any history of blood transfusions, family history of any blood disorders, acute febrile illness recently? Regarding lymph nodes, small and painless lymph nodes size 1.5 cm are considered normal for armpit. So it is better if you can get it examined by a local physician.

Hope this helps you and get back if you have any doubts.

For more information consult an internal medicine physician online --> https://www.icliniq.com/ask-a-doctor-online/internal-medicine-physician