THE USE OF SONOGRAPHY IN DIFFERENTIATING CERVICAL LYMPHOMATOUS LYMPH-NODES FROM CERVICAL LYMPH-NODES

Lymphoma and metastases are common causes of cervical lymphadenopathy. Clinical examination alone is unable to differentiate the two. Ultras ound (US) with its high sensitivity and specificity when combined with a fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) is therefore the ideal initi al investigation. We present the spectrum of findings in 19 patients w ith non Hodgkins lymphoma (NHL), 15 patients with pharyngeal, laryngea l and oesophageal (PLO) carcinomas, 22 patients with oral cavity tumou rs and 12 patients with infraclavicular carcinomas. The US features fo und consistently useful in differentiating NHL from other metastases w ere the distribution of the nodes, distal enhancement and lack of intr anodal necrosis. Other US features of abnormal nodes helped identify a bnormality but did not help in differentiation.